Mixed-use TOD in Chicago’s Grand Boulevard neighborhood gets financing

Chicago-based The Habitat Company has cleared a key hurdle in financing the first phase of 43 Green, a $35 million mixed-income, mixed-use transit-oriented development (TOD) in Chicago’s Grand Boulevard neighborhood. Habitat will develop the project in partnership with Bronzeville-based P3 Markets, a real estate development firm dedicated to public-private partnerships.

Having received approval from the city of Chicago for the highly competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Habitat and P3 will now focus on completing the design and financing to finalize the capital program for the project. Upon completion, the multi-phase 43 Green is expected to be comprised of three buildings centered around the 43rd Street Green Line stop. Each building is slated for mixed-income apartments as well as street-level retail.

“Grand Boulevard is one of Chicago’s great historic neighborhoods and we’re confident that this transit-oriented community will appeal across multiple income levels,” said Matt Fiascone, president, The Habitat Company. “While most of the recent development in the community has focused on single-family lots or multifamily projects concentrated north of this area, we are all optimistic that 43 Green will serve to drive new investment in the neighborhood and lead to long-term economic growth.”

Located on the northeast corner of East 43rd Street and Calumet Avenue, the Phase 1 building will include 91 units, 7,500 square feet of retail space and off-street parking. Apartments will range from studio to one- and two-bedrooms with half of the residences listed as market-rate and the other half offered as income-restricted affordable-rate units. Built on a long-vacant, city-owned lot just north of Hadiya Pendleton Park, the Phase 1 building will be the largest of the development’s three buildings and is expected to break ground in 2021.

“43 Green is an exciting project—not just for the neighborhood, but also for our team as it embodies our ongoing efforts to effect change in the communities that need it most,” said Phillip L. Beckham, principal, P3 Markets. “This project also allows us—and future residents—to benefit from working with an exceptional partner like Habitat, which has a strong track record of developing successful mixed-income projects. We look forward to revitalizing Grand Boulevard together as 43 Green becomes a reality.”

The later phases for 43 Green call for additional mixed-income buildings along with street-level retail and more commercial development. The development will continue to focus on establishing a retail and residential hub on 43rd Street adjacent to the Green Line station, and will work to leverage Opportunity Zone investment at sites within the program boundaries on the north side of 43rd Street.