Plans have been revealed for the first phase of the redevelopment of the massive plot of land at West 18th Street and South Peoria Street in Pilsen. Located at 900 West 18th Street, this marks the end of a multi-year effort to develop the property after the city purchased the land in 2022 from a previous developer and launched a search for a new partner.
Site context map of 18th & Peoria via Google Maps
18th & Peoria framework plan by Aecom, KOO, and UrbanWorks
Local nonprofit The Resurrection Project will lead the first building, following its work on multiple nearby housing developments such as Casa Yucatán and Casa Durango. Similarly, the new seven-story project will be called Casa Nayarit. The surrounding site will include a few parking spots as well as a landscaped plaza connected to the future Paseo Trail.
Site plan of Casa Nayarit via Resurrection Project
The ground floor will feature a large commercial space earmarked for a new childcare center with an adjacent playground, to be operated by Chicago Commons. This will be joined by a small lobby, a bike parking room, a community room, a communal laundry room, and 76 permanently affordable units. These will consist of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts.
All residents will have access to a shared rooftop deck. The structure itself will be clad in multi-colored prefabricated panels and mullions, with large-scale murals around the entrance and rooftop. The project will cost $48 million and will partially receive funding from the city as part of its affordable housing initiative. Construction is set to begin in 2027, with completion expected toward the end of 2029.
Overall massing model by Aecom, KOO, and UrbanWorks
The rest of the development will include multiple mid-rises, six-flats, and townhomes across the greater 6.3-acre site, approved by the Plan Commission in 2023. This will also incorporate additional commercial space, parking, public park space, and the Paseo Trail, all to be built in phases. In total, 432 units are planned for the site, consisting of a mix of rentals and condominiums.
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Some architects believe that affordable housing should infantilize occupants. Making these places look like daycare centers is the ultimate expression of woke patronizing.
Haha relax
So if we apply the same logic, what does this say about every red leaning suburban tract development in which the only originality stems from what color your garage is and which type of lifted pickup blocks the sidewalk?
Is it a hive mind of which no one can think for themselves? Is the tall-fenced isolation their fear of their own shadow on display or are they just so unlikable its best to keep them within their own island?
I’m no fan of the burbs. But at least the designers there are responding to what people want. This is just weird. It looks like something you would see from the Interstate when driving past Wisconsin Dells. The only thing missing is a waterslide. I would be embarrassed to live in something that looked like this. The implicit message by this design (as I see it) is that these people can’t house themselves and, therefore, must be treated like children. They can live in a building that looks like Chuck E. Cheese.
Paratransit vehicles look like the Batmobile. We don’t limit WIC food to chicken nuggets and pizza. Why have affordable housing look like a really cheapened, sad version of the Willie Wonka set? I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand weirdos who defend it.
Some of the comments below assume that this is a racist assumption. And I really don’t understand how calling out the patronizing of POC is considered racist.
Couldn’t agree more with pretty much 100% of this post.
Those colors are just silly, and imagine how they will look after 30 Chicago winters. Who would want to call that their home?
Of course, the project proposed years ago that was shot down by the Alderman at the time could have been much better for the area. The University Village & wider community badly wanted it to happen, but sadly this Pilsen Alliance hate group (that is basically what they are, as they don’t wan’t “certain people” moving into their community, and we all know that it’s just disguised racism) had influence over the Alderman, and so the developer gave up and the city bought the land. A denser, market rate development that would have generated MUCH more tax revenue for this broke city could have been sitting on this land by now. Instead, we get this garbage….
It is patronizing to the people
In the community. You are getting called out when you blame”woke” on this issue. Woke would have been high density with more backbone, “patronizing” or “fake empathy” gets you this monstrosity. Only magats say woke whenever they are upset.
So you say this without any knowledge of whether the architects tried to work with the community or implemented some sort of heritage into the identity?
I can’t say I have done either, but the colors seem right on point with tons of murals scattered throughout. The train tracks alone have some of the best murals in the city. Even Google Maps has a placemakrer calling out the local landmark. I’m not in love with the project, but I’m more offended by the cheap stuff Hanna developers force them to plop about Chicago.
Mexico City was a major focus of my studies, and it has some of the best touches of color in an urban setting. Ever muster the courage to look up Luis Baragan? I’m not going to say this project is perfect, and the choice to paint concrete is less than ideal, but to throw the word “woke” around is asinine and speaks more to your character than the architecture ever could.
Google these words, “Mexico City colorful contemporary architecture,” and try thinking before spewing word vomit. And having Tupper on your side is always a disservice to your opinion.
Drew, ad hominem comments seem to be the norm for you
All you guys have to do is follow the history of the prior development plans for this lot and visit the website of the Pilsen Alliance to understand all of the ‘signaling’ that these seemingly innocent colors actually represent. They didn’t want one group of people in Pilsen, they want a different group of people. The Alderman forced the issue. It is very sad in a city that is supposed to be open, welcoming, and–especially–desperately in need of tax revenue.
This would have been a thriving community full of buildings years ago, except some vocal activists didn’t want those “types” living here. It is a form of NIMBYism, really. This site is called Chicago Yimby, lets not forget….
“Making these places look like daycare centers is the ultimate expression of woke patronizing.”
Explain to the class wtf this means?
Disregard the group behind the project. Ignore the history. We are talking about face-value architecture because your original gross comment addressed none of that.
…or it reflects the colorful character of the neighborhood, culture, and murals that surround it everywhere… Lol
Don’t try to bring common sense into this, if these types had their way all affordable housing projects would be replaced by AMLI/Greystar style developers whose sole goal is to pull as much capital as possible out of the basic survival good that they build.
“woke patronizing” is the kind of thing a racist says to undermine a minority group led developer who is expressing their own shared cultural heritage through design choices.
Thank you for the education, Jake. I hadn’t realized that AECOM (NYSE: ACM), Koo and UrbanWorks were developers with a heavy Latino heritage. I bet that would even be news to them!
I’ve also noticed a pattern where so-called ‘affordable’ housing is designed to look like daycare centers, often with lots of bright colors, murals, etc.
I suspect the logic behind this is an attempt to make these buildings look less drab, as they are constructed with cheap materials. While I don’t think patronization is the intent, it certainly seems to be a natural consequence!
“Color is woke patronizing” amazing work.
Oh Dios Mio! They let the crayons out of the box..
I really hope that is not just painted concrete, because the long term maintenance to upkeep that vibrant color will cost more over the life of the project than a material that has the color integrated into it, with a warranty covering fading.
This is my concern, plus there is no way integrally colored concrete will be this vibrant. It’s a recipe for repainting every 5 years at the moment.
Also, TETRIS
Terrible looking , cannot be serious .
Just as landscaping can’t save bad architecture, neither can loud colors.
Terrible project, terrible & racist Alderman who criminally forced this. Everything about this project is loathesome. Shame on Chicago
This should have a denser, free market project with market rate units as originally allowed.
Sounds like a lot can change before this site is fully built out. But I’m a fan of trying out bright colors on the facade. It works in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, southern Europe, Los Angeles, throughout Latin America, and many, many other places. Worth the effort to see if it works and can be sustained in Chicago.
THIS ISN’T MIAMI
They can’t be serious about those colors! Everyone will have to wear sunglasses.
I like the color! I wonder if there’s a cultural significance to it. I look forward to seeing how its executed. Ive always struggled to incorporate color in some of the affordable projects Ive worked on. This is exciting, at least from the outside.
Raul Raymundo, the founder of the Resurrection project spoke at my commencement last year, he spoke a lot about his work in Pilsen and I got the impression he knows a lot more of what it takes to build and what is wanted than a bunch of the racist posters here claim to know.