On June 23, the City of Chicago issued a permit allowing the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) to convert the sanctuary of the Humboldt Park United Methodist Church in Logan Square into residential units. The permit was submitted for approval back in December 2022, and it came through showing a reported construction cost just under $8.7 million.
Located at 2120 North Mozart Street, the nearly 100-year-old church already contains 13 dwelling units, managed by the church’s congregation, in the north portion of the building, and the permit includes renovating the kitchens and bathrooms in those units. As for the sanctuary, it will be adaptively reused as nine units. A church will get a new roof, with exterior masonry and siding repairs also included in the plans. Canopy is the design firm behind the updates. Crane Construction Company is named as the general contractor. The congregation held their final service in the building in late April.
Exterior rendering by Canopy
Interior rendering of a sanctuary unit by Canopy
All 22 units in the building are designated as affordable. According to Canopy, there will be eight studio, eight one-bedroom, three two-bedroom, and three two-bedroom floor plans. Twelve units will be at 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Five units will be set aside as Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and five units will be MAUI-subsidized (Multi-year Affordability through Upfront Investment) units, targeting 15 percent and 30 percent AMI households.
Also per the Canopy website: “The project is funded by various sources, including up to $10 million of tax-exempt housing revenue bonds being issued, to raise approximately $7.6 million equity for the benefit of the transaction, a $1.35 million grant from Chicago Recovery Plan for permanent supporting housing, a $1,288,919 grant from Chicago Recovery Plan for decarbonization, and up to $4,289,205 in DOH soft funds. The total project cost makes up nearly $20 million, and groundbreaking is set for November 2024.”
Looking north up Mozart Street, via Google Street View
Overhead view via Google Maps
The church does not have a parking lot, and no parking will be included, according to the permit. CTA transit is available by walking one block east to the Route 94 bus along California Avenue. The Route 77 bus makes stops three blocks south at Armitage Avenue. The California Blue Line elevated train platform is a two-block walk northeast, where Route 56 buses are also available along Milwaukee Avenue.
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Another luxury “affordable” building. From what I can tell here, they’re building 22 units at a cost of “nearly $20 million.” $909,090 per unit. Absurd. And a $1.4m city grant for “decarbonization”. Especially absurd coming from the accounts of a city that’s functionally bankrupt.
Take that 20 million dollars, build actual affordable housing at, say, $300,000 per unit (not out of the question in a lower-rise, lower amenity building) and you could house three times a many people.
But no, the nice folks in our city government would rather house one-third as many people in this deluxe development – it’s decarbonized! it’s preservation! There’s something seriously f’d up about this.
It’s called all this free money from the city-Developers keep a nice chuck as they upcharge all the costs. The city just keeps on giving our money out. Build a nice look building with quality materials for the tenants-nothing more is needed.