Chicago officials broke ground Tuesday on the first phase of a major redevelopment of the former LeClaire Courts public housing site, launching construction on 138 new homes in Garfield Ridge.
Mayor Brandon Johnson joined the Chicago Department of Housing, The Habitat Company and Cabrera Partners for the groundbreaking of LeClaire Courts North Apartments at 4400-58 S. Cicero Ave.
The development will include 124 affordable apartments and 14 market-rate units, along with commercial and retail space and parking.
It represents the first phase of a larger redevelopment plan expected to eventually bring 725 new homes to the site.
“This is a significant investment in affordable housing and in the future of Garfield Ridge,” Johnson said. “We are taking a site that has been vacant for 15 years and putting it back to work for this community.”
Johnson said the project is part of his administration’s broader effort to expand affordable housing while encouraging additional neighborhood investment.
LeClaire Courts North Apartments will consist of two buildings. The North building will include 110 units, while the South building will include 28.
The development will feature 22 studio apartments, 84 one-bedroom units, 28 two-bedroom apartments and four three-bedroom units.
Affordable apartments will be available to households earning between 15% and 80% of the area median income.
The city is supporting the development with $15 million in financing, including $9.5 million through Department of Housing multifamily loan funds and $5.5 million from the Cicero/Stevenson Tax Increment Financing district.
Chicago Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda said the project is designed to provide working families with greater housing stability and access to affordable rents.
“In 30 years, the waitress at Peke’s Pozole who will live at LeClaire Courts will be able to not only afford it, but raise her family knowing that affordable rents need not be another anxiety for her,” Castañeda said.
The development will also include approximately 16,500 square feet of commercial space.
About 14,000 square feet in the North building is expected to be leased by Chicago Commons, a nonprofit organization that provides early childhood education as well as services for seniors and vulnerable adults.
The South building will include approximately 2,500 square feet of retail space. A tenant has not yet been announced.
Additional financing partners include the Chicago Housing Authority, the Illinois Housing Development Authority and Bank of America.
The project received approximately $3.61 million in 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits through IHDA, which are expected to generate roughly $34.29 million in equity.
The redevelopment is also part of the Johnson administration’s larger housing strategy, which includes the city’s $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond.
The administration has set a goal of completing 10,000 newly built or rehabilitated affordable homes by the end of Johnson’s first term.
Other housing initiatives include the Missing Middle Housing program, which supports smaller multi-unit developments on the South and West Sides, and the Green Social Housing Fund, designed to create a long-term funding source for larger affordable housing developments.
For Garfield Ridge, the LeClaire Courts redevelopment marks the return of housing to a site that has remained vacant for more than a decade.
Future phases are expected to bring additional homes as well as neighborhood-serving uses, including grocery and medical office space.
