The CHA is putting more than $3.4 million in loans into Roosevelt Square, Related Midwest‘s stalled mixed-income development on Roosevelt Road on the Near West Side. According to the Chicago Journal, the money will help fund the construction of 121 rental units, but Related still needs another $8 million for the project and has no timetable for completion.
I have hopes that the the Ickes homes on Cermak that were recently razed; (which the CHA owns the land) will NOT put up mixed housing and sell the land to a developer. There is a lot of inventory in the area and the ‘vision’ for Cermak road is for it to be the artery b’w ChinaTown and McCormick place.
If this specific location is treated with a top notch development, it will set the tone for the south ‘south loop’.
Or Chicago could do what I have always dreamed of:
Abolish the CHA altogether.
I moved into the RS development in the first phase three years ago and have been quite disappointed at the lack of progress. Perhaps this might spur the project but with the focus on rentals espcially with less-than-market rate, I do not think the community will improve. The reality is that commercial development here will not be attracted until the demographics improve in this community.
I thought I read that any CHA land has to be rebuilt as mixed-income, but I could be wrong. The cermak location does have a lot of potential as a gateway to several areas, there is plenty of foot and car traffic.