Stalled Morgan Park housing, retail project at former Jewel site could soon break ground
Construction is expected to kickoff early next year on a 12-acre site in Morgan Park — once floated by Mayor Brandon Johnson as a location for “winterized base camps” for migrants.The Far South Community Development Corp. said its long-planned mixed-use development Morgan Park Commons will go before the Chicago Plan Commission in early 2025. If approved, the group hopes to break ground within the first quarter.The project would redevelop a former Jewel grocery store and the Halsted Indoor Mall with the goal of bringing energy — and people — back to the intersection of 115th and South Halsted streets. Related Community group makes headway at neglected Morgan Park corner Plans call for apartments, townhomes, about 16,000 square feet of retail, a park and a performing and culinary arts center. Chicago-based DL3 Realty is the co-developer for the site with the Far South CDC, and the Preservation of Affordable Housing is the co-developer for the first residential phase of the project, according to Far South CDC President Abraham Lacy. Lamar Johnson Collaborative is the architect.Lacy said the recent closure of discount grocer Aldi’s West Pullman store, 821 W. 115 St., further illustrates the need for Morgan Park Commons. He said if shovels were in the ground this year — like they were scheduled to be — there would have been a 50% chance of Aldi staying.“You have to make the community attractive for a grocery store,” he said. “ It's incumbent upon us that when we're developing, a grocery store can look at this and say, ‘Wow, okay, there's their building. They're going to have some 300 to 400 people that's going to be at this location every day. That means increased foot traffic.’ That’s what Morgan Park Commons looks to do.”Grocery stores notoriously operate on razor-thin margins. They need foot traffic and need to be in high-density areas to fuel them.Density is what Lacy hopes to create with Morgan Park Commons. He plans to achieve that by building affordable housing, with 258 units across the project’s four phases. Abraham Lacy, president of Far South Community Development Corp., at the site of its Morgan Park Commons development, on the 800 block of West 115th St.Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times “Density is everything right now,” Lacy said. “We are a community in this area that has lost the population. What Morgan Park Commons looks to do is to bring that sort of density back.”The units would include studios and one-bedroom apartments as well as three-bedroom townhomes. Rents will be restricted to under 120% of the area median income with the bulk of the apartments around 60%-80% of AMI.Lacy said the project will help diversify housing stock in a neighborhood that’s primarily single-family homes. When doing a market study, he couldn’t find any mixed-used apartment projects south of 95th Street.Morgan Park Commons will also help the Far South CDC’s mission of wealth-building by creating a pathway to homeownership.“You can literally raise a family here and go from apartment living to homeownership," he said. "We help people go from apartments to housing, and they get enormous down payment assistance but they need a landing zone. Right now, if [neighborhoods] don't have apartments, you don't have a landing zone. If you can't afford a home, where do you go?”The Far South CDC currently owns half of the site, which includes the old Jewel, and the city owns the other half, after purchasing it from Jewel's parent Albertsons. But Lacy said the city is turning over its half to the Far South CDC.“We now have a much clearer pathway toward ownership than we did when Albertsons still had hold on the property,” Lacy said. “That’s one of the great benefits that we see that came out of this situation.”The project has the support of city and state officials, he said, with the state appropriating $15 million in seed money in addition to low-income housing tax credits awarded by the city.Meanwhile, the Far South CDC is scouting opportunities for redeveloping Maple Park Marketplace, the shopping center anchored by the now-closed Aldi, and the former Walgreen’s, at 833 W. 115th St., that's adjacent to Morgan Park Commons. The group hopes to add a pharmacy and urgent care center on the Walgreen’s site.
Construction is expected to kickoff early next year on a 12-acre site in Morgan Park — once floated by Mayor Brandon Johnson as a location for “winterized base camps” for migrants.
The Far South Community Development Corp. said its long-planned mixed-use development Morgan Park Commons will go before the Chicago Plan Commission in early 2025. If approved, the group hopes to break ground within the first quarter.
The project would redevelop a former Jewel grocery store and the Halsted Indoor Mall with the goal of bringing energy — and people — back to the intersection of 115th and South Halsted streets.
Plans call for apartments, townhomes, about 16,000 square feet of retail, a park and a performing and culinary arts center.
Chicago-based DL3 Realty is the co-developer for the site with the Far South CDC, and the Preservation of Affordable Housing is the co-developer for the first residential phase of the project, according to Far South CDC President Abraham Lacy. Lamar Johnson Collaborative is the architect.
Lacy said the recent closure of discount grocer Aldi’s West Pullman store, 821 W. 115 St., further illustrates the need for Morgan Park Commons. He said if shovels were in the ground this year — like they were scheduled to be — there would have been a 50% chance of Aldi staying.
“You have to make the community attractive for a grocery store,” he said. “ It's incumbent upon us that when we're developing, a grocery store can look at this and say, ‘Wow, okay, there's their building. They're going to have some 300 to 400 people that's going to be at this location every day. That means increased foot traffic.’ That’s what Morgan Park Commons looks to do.”
Grocery stores notoriously operate on razor-thin margins. They need foot traffic and need to be in high-density areas to fuel them.
Density is what Lacy hopes to create with Morgan Park Commons. He plans to achieve that by building affordable housing, with 258 units across the project’s four phases.
“Density is everything right now,” Lacy said. “We are a community in this area that has lost the population. What Morgan Park Commons looks to do is to bring that sort of density back.”
The units would include studios and one-bedroom apartments as well as three-bedroom townhomes. Rents will be restricted to under 120% of the area median income with the bulk of the apartments around 60%-80% of AMI.
Lacy said the project will help diversify housing stock in a neighborhood that’s primarily single-family homes. When doing a market study, he couldn’t find any mixed-used apartment projects south of 95th Street.
Morgan Park Commons will also help the Far South CDC’s mission of wealth-building by creating a pathway to homeownership.
“You can literally raise a family here and go from apartment living to homeownership," he said. "We help people go from apartments to housing, and they get enormous down payment assistance but they need a landing zone. Right now, if [neighborhoods] don't have apartments, you don't have a landing zone. If you can't afford a home, where do you go?”
The Far South CDC currently owns half of the site, which includes the old Jewel, and the city owns the other half, after purchasing it from Jewel's parent Albertsons. But Lacy said the city is turning over its half to the Far South CDC.
“We now have a much clearer pathway toward ownership than we did when Albertsons still had hold on the property,” Lacy said. “That’s one of the great benefits that we see that came out of this situation.”
The project has the support of city and state officials, he said, with the state appropriating $15 million in seed money in addition to low-income housing tax credits awarded by the city.
Meanwhile, the Far South CDC is scouting opportunities for redeveloping Maple Park Marketplace, the shopping center anchored by the now-closed Aldi, and the former Walgreen’s, at 833 W. 115th St., that's adjacent to Morgan Park Commons. The group hopes to add a pharmacy and urgent care center on the Walgreen’s site.
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