Park Boulevard ground-breaking

Yesterday was just another Thursday to most people in Chicago, but it was a pretty big deal for former residents of Stateway Gardens, the Chicago Housing Authority development that stretches for nearly half a mile, between 35th Street and Pershing Road, along the Dan Ryan Expressway. Stateway Associates, LLC officially broke ground on a $104 million mixed-income redevelopment of the projects at a 10 a.m. press conference.

The open land stretches for acres, and spectators had a chance to imagine townhomes and condos filling the emptiness and replacing the dense public housing highrises that have been systematically demolished as part of the CHA’s Plan for Transformation. The CHA residents in attendance seemed excited and pleased that construction is underway on the new community. Others have not been so thrilled, complaining about long waiting lists for replacement housing and the lack of alternatives for those displaced by redevelopment (Stateway photos).

The massive Park Boulevard development will have 1,300 new homes, including townhomes, condominiums, single-family homes and rental apartments. The income mix, as at other CHA redevelopments, is roughly one-third affordable housing, one-third market-rate and one-third CHA replacement. The plan will also include 17,000 square feet of retail development.

Allison Davis, of Neighborhood Rejuvenation Partners, part of the development team, said the CHA, market-rate and affordable units would be indistinguishable so, “no one can say ‘that’s where the poor people live, that’s where the rich people live.'”

In order to qualify for new units, former residents of Stateway Gardens must have jobs or be taking classes while looking for jobs. The Local Advisory Council will help residents with employment and education, said Francine Washington, president of Stateway Gardens Local Advisory Council.

“We are no longer poor people,” Washington said. “We are broke, and broke is just a temporary inconvenience.”

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