The City of Chicago has announced the potential sale and development of a handful of lots around 3916 S Lake Park Avenue in Bronzeville. Located around the intersection with E Oakwood Boulevard, the package is made up of six separate currently vacant lots. The efforts are being led in collaboration with the Department of Planning and Development as the city searches for potential development teams.
Site context map for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Site context map for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
The sites will be considered an Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD), with the city proposing a potential infill Metra station at Oakwood on the Metra Electric Line. Nearby is the future Bronzeville Trail, located just a few blocks south. The sites will be sold to the selected developer at a price to be determined by the market and through the amount of affordable housing offered.
Earlier this month the city published their RFQ for the for the following sites:
Sites for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Sites for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Site 1
3815 S Lake Park Avenue – 12,195 square-feet – Max 2 FAR
Potential use per city: Townhomes or small multi-family building
Site 2
3835 S Lake Park Avenue – 52,584 square-feet – Max 6.6 FAR
Potential use per city: Larger multi-family with ground level townhomes
Site 3
900 E Oakwood Boulevard – 43,313 square-feet – Max 6.6 FAR
Potential use per city: Gateway Site, high-density mixed-use building
Site 4
854 E Oakwood Boulevard – 13,436 square-feet – Max 4 FAR
Potential use per city: Small site for retail and residential
Site 5
855 E Oakwood Boulevard – 39,928 square-feet – Max 4 FAR
Potential use per city: Medium-density mixed-use with potential for hotel
Site 6
3950 S Lake Park Avenue – 55,421 square-feet – Max 4.4 FAR
Potential use per city: High-density residential maximizing lake views
Potential Scenarios
As part of the document, the city has proposed three example scenarios for that could be done the sites, they are as follows:
Scenario One for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Scenario 1 – 400 to 500 residential units
The least dense of the three, this scenario focuses on townhomes and multiple 50 to 70-foot tall mixed-use structures. This would be anchored by a 185-foot tall tower along the lake with the potential for a hotel.
Scenario Two for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Scenario 2 – 790 to 870 residential units
The medium of the three, this scenario increases heights with 70-feet being the shortest structure along with a handful of townhomes. The two-prominent lakefront sites would both contain 185-foot tall structures with one containing a hotel.
Scenario Three for Bronzeville redevelopment by DPD
Scenario 3 – 810 to 890 residential units
The most dense of the three, this would involve the creation of a planned development designation along the two-lakefront sites which would require consent from the surrounding private owners. This would keep the 70-85 foot tall building from the previous proposal and bring a 300-foot tall tower along the lake.
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With the RFQ having been released, bidders will now have until June 28th to submit their qualifications for the potential development. This will be followed by a short list which will have to present concept designs in October, with a winner selected by November. As part of the agreement for the project the selected developer will need to begin vertical construction in 2026. A link to the PDF can be found here.
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Scenario 3 seems to be the best, build it!
No, no, no. They need to build 1000’+ super-talls on all sites with no parking. LOL
Go tall as possible, dense as possible. Got to be ambitious with these projects.
“Nearby is the future Bronzeville Train“
*Trail (?)
Naw, they’re keeping FARs to a minimum so builders have to go on bended knee with large amounts of cash to make the alder creature happy.
Scenario (3) seems to be the better one to build in the area due to lack of affordable housing in bronzeville
As much as news as there is on homes in Bronzeville starting to cross the $1M mark, there is still affordable housing available in the neighborhood. For neighborhoods under 5 miles from the Loop, it probably has the highest percentage of subsidized housing available and there were 61 homes sold in the last 12 months with atleast 3BR and 2BAs that were under $300K.
I do agree though that they should build as much housing as possible.
What is the Bronzeville Train?
Hi Q! Thanks for catching that, I corrected it to the Bronzeville Trail*