Situated just steps from the Logan Square Blue Line stop, the Emmett Street affordable housing development will provide high quality affordable rental housing for Logan Square's working families currently facing skyrocketing rents and displacement.
Developed by not-for-profit affordable housing developer Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation and designed by award-winning firm Landon Bone Baker Architects, this transit-oriented development is a tiered building that is seven stories at its highest point and two stories at its lowest point to fit in with neighboring residential structures.
The development will include:
- 100 units of affordable housing;
- A mix of one, two, and three bedroom units:
- 33 one-bedrooms,
- 49 two-bedrooms,
- 18 three-bedrooms;
- Spacious lobby;
- Onsite laundry facilities;
- Community room;
- Onsite Bickerdike Apartments Property Management & Maintenance Office;
- Interior bike room and exterior bike racks;
- Two elevators;
- Approximately 4,500 square feet of commercial space facing Kedzie Avenue geared towards locally owned small businesses and local non-profit organizations;
- 20 on-site parking spots per the City's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) ordinance;
- Plaza at the corner of Kedzie and Emmett;
- Rooftop garden.
The development will be located at 2602-2638 North Emmett Street, currently an underutilized City of Chicago owned parking lot. The Emmett Street site is an ideal location for affordable rental housing. It will not only provide homes to residents who are at risk of displacement as rents continue to rise in Logan Square, but the proximity to public transportation will provide greater access to employment opportunities and to all that Chicago has to offer.
Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation has worked with Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) and Logan Square Preservation (LSP) to craft their proposal with community-input. In response to input from LSNA, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation increased the number of two and three bedroom units to ensure the development meets the need for affordable family-size units in Logan Square. In response to input from LSP, Landon Bone Baker Architects created a tiered building that situates a majority of the three-bedroom units on Emmett Street - these three-bedroom units will be townhome style units with their own entrances and front yards on Emmett. Landon Bone Baker also used input from LSP to make additional design changes so that the building blends in with neighboring structures.
All of the units will be affordable to Chicagoans earning at or below 60-percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), currently $35,580 per year for an individual, and $50,760 per year for a family of four. This means this development will provide high quality affordable apartments for teacher aides, security personnel that work at O'Hare Airport, and other working-class Chicagoans earning a similar salary range that are currently facing displacement from Logan Square.
This 100% affordable housing development will be financed through a combination of funding from the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), housing tax credits, and the Fullerton/Milwaukee TIF. Additionally, the City of Chicago will sell the land to Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation for $1, reducing development costs and making this 100% affordable housing development possible.
In addition to working with community organizations, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation and Landon Bone Baker Architects have also worked with the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to ensure the proposal accurately responds to planned changes at the intersection of Milwaukee and Kedzie and the Logan Square Blue Line Stop - most notably, the redirection of Kedzie Avenue through the existing bus turn around. Learn more about CDOT's proposed changes to the Milwaukee, Kedzie, and Logan intersection here.