Better Bronze: Affordable Woodland Park condos add polish to Bronzeville
Chicago Sun-Times
As real estate prices have risen steadily on the North and West sides of the city, eyes have begun to descend, and wallets to open, in the historical Near South Side neighborhood known as Bronzeville.
Sales have begun at Woodland Park, a condominium conversion in a gated development at 35th and Cottage Grove. Geared to the working people in the neighborhood, the development is a mixture of market value and affordable housing. Within the conversion, 20 percent of the homes are available to those making 100 percent of the median income of $65,000, which is the median income for a family of four in the city.
CITYVIEW IS AN INVESTOR
The developer is Northern Realty, and a major investor is CityView, a development and housing finance company run by Henry Cisneros, who served as U.S. housing secretary under former President Bill Clinton.
CityView is financing the equity of this project to the tune of around $5 million, much of which comes from the $500 million it has received from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). CityView has its hands in affordable housing developments nationwide, including another project in Pilsen, on little-used industrial land stretching between 16th and 18th streets in a primarily Mexican neighborhood, where homes are scheduled for sale as early as March 2007. Cisneros himself is spearheading the movement to give Latinos, the fastest growing demographic of home buyers nationwide, a slice of the American dream.
Advertisement
His book Casa y Comunidad, which translates to "home and community" offers Realtors tips on marketing to Latinos, such as installing gas stoves in the kitchen because they are the best for making tortillas.
CityView's investment in Bronzeville is part of its general portfolio of urban properties.
ROOM TO GROW
As evidenced by a drive east on 35th Street from U.S. Cellular Field toward Lake Michigan, Bronzeville still has room to grow. The route is dotted with long stretches of undeveloped land.
Michael Tobin of Northern Realty sees Woodland Park as part of the revitalization that includes cafes, nightclubs and neighborhood attractions. "This is not a neighborhood of the poorest of the poor," he said. "That was a fallacy in the first place. These are good residents of modest means."
Woodland Park, which sits on 10 acres, was only about half occupied in the late 1980s, yet the property was in good shape. Northern Realty gave the buildings a cosmetic update and redecorated the interiors, providing new water heaters, furnaces and air conditioning. Each unit now includes a bay window, great light and air, stainless steel appliances and wood-laminated floors. A modestly priced update would give the home buyer granite countertops.
Three rectangular condominium buildings surround a park -- two to the north and one to the south. Woodland's park includes paths, benches and ample foliage. Outdoor tennis courts and a barbecue area sit on the eastern edge of Woodland Park, not far from the base of the statue of Stephen Douglas, who had owned thousands of acres in this neighborhood, many of which he donated to the city of Chicago.
The nearly 70 units sold, of a total 240, have gone to people whose jobs are nearby: local nurses, teachers, firefighters and police officers. Two local institutions, Michael Reese Hospital and Mercy Hospital, are big employers. Meanwhile, the Department of Planning and Development is pushing for more ground-floor retail ventures in the Cottage Grove neighborhood with residential units above them. A shopping center sits a block west of Woodland Park.
CLOSE TO THE SOUTH LOOP
"This is close to my job and close to the South Loop, where I hang out," said Arlecia Taylor, a 26-year-old facilitator with the Chicago Public Schools who moved into an 820-square-foot, 1-bedroom condo at Woodland Park two months ago. Her condo cost $140,000, and now it takes her only 10 minutes to drive to work. Taylor lived at home with her parents before she arrived in Bronzeville and was amazed that she found such a reasonably priced place after searching for about a year.
The price of a 1-bedroom apartment at Woodland Park starts at $150,000, and a 2-bedroom unit runs from $179,000. Northern Realty also offers a 2-bedroom deluxe and a 3-bedroom apartment. "In reality, because of the costs in the neighborhood, virtually all of the properties are available affordably," Tobin added.
Single women who are financially stable enough to buy their own homes are attracted to Woodland Park. For them, it offers gated security, limited access points, guards and managers on duty and a maintenance and landscaping staff. Single women in their late 30s and early 40s are buying enough that Northern Realty is focusing significant advertising on that target group. "Women professionals with steady careers are no longer waiting until they have families to buy homes," Tobin explained. "Security is a primary concern for them."
The biggest influx of homeowners coming to Bronzeville might not be North Siders looking to the other side of Madison Street but those arriving from the suburbs. "It's suburbanites who want to be back [near] downtown who will move to the Near South Side for the attraction of the South Loop," Tobin said. "We have much of the character of suburbia here with our open spaces. The pace of life is not congested like it is in the middle of the city."
BLUES, GOSPEL AND ALL THAT JAZZ PUNCTUATE A HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD
Bronzeville is named for the mass migration of thousands of African Americans arriving here from the South in the early 20th century as they sought plentiful industrial jobs. The term was purportedly coined by an editor of the African-American newspaper the Chicago Bee, which had sponsored a contest in 1930 to elect a "mayor of Bronzeville." At a time when ethnic diversity was not celebrated, the use of the word "bronze" represented an attempt by local residents to avoid referring to theirs as a black community.
Bronzeville is a bastion of Chicago history and once was the city's cultural capital. Dubbed the birthplace of American jazz, blues and gospel, Bronzeville in the 1930s hosted the soaring jazz talents of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey.
Proponents say the neighborhood has the potential to claim that title once again should the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics be successful.
A memorial statue of Illinois Sen. Stephen Douglas, who died shortly after losing the 1860 presidential election to Abraham Lincoln, stands just to the east of Woodland Park, facing Lake Michigan.
The 1893 World's Fair to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival was held in nearby Jackson Park.
As real estate prices have risen steadily on the North and West sides of the city, eyes have begun to descend, and wallets to open, in the historical Near South Side neighborhood known as Bronzeville.
Sales have begun at Woodland Park, a condominium conversion in a gated development at 35th and Cottage Grove. Geared to the working people in the neighborhood, the development is a mixture of market value and affordable housing. Within the conversion, 20 percent of the homes are available to those making 100 percent of the median income of $65,000, which is the median income for a family of four in the city.
CITYVIEW IS AN INVESTOR
The developer is Northern Realty, and a major investor is CityView, a development and housing finance company run by Henry Cisneros, who served as U.S. housing secretary under former President Bill Clinton.
CityView is financing the equity of this project to the tune of around $5 million, much of which comes from the $500 million it has received from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). CityView has its hands in affordable housing developments nationwide, including another project in Pilsen, on little-used industrial land stretching between 16th and 18th streets in a primarily Mexican neighborhood, where homes are scheduled for sale as early as March 2007. Cisneros himself is spearheading the movement to give Latinos, the fastest growing demographic of home buyers nationwide, a slice of the American dream.
Advertisement
His book Casa y Comunidad, which translates to "home and community" offers Realtors tips on marketing to Latinos, such as installing gas stoves in the kitchen because they are the best for making tortillas.
CityView's investment in Bronzeville is part of its general portfolio of urban properties.
ROOM TO GROW
As evidenced by a drive east on 35th Street from U.S. Cellular Field toward Lake Michigan, Bronzeville still has room to grow. The route is dotted with long stretches of undeveloped land.
Michael Tobin of Northern Realty sees Woodland Park as part of the revitalization that includes cafes, nightclubs and neighborhood attractions. "This is not a neighborhood of the poorest of the poor," he said. "That was a fallacy in the first place. These are good residents of modest means."
Woodland Park, which sits on 10 acres, was only about half occupied in the late 1980s, yet the property was in good shape. Northern Realty gave the buildings a cosmetic update and redecorated the interiors, providing new water heaters, furnaces and air conditioning. Each unit now includes a bay window, great light and air, stainless steel appliances and wood-laminated floors. A modestly priced update would give the home buyer granite countertops.
Three rectangular condominium buildings surround a park -- two to the north and one to the south. Woodland's park includes paths, benches and ample foliage. Outdoor tennis courts and a barbecue area sit on the eastern edge of Woodland Park, not far from the base of the statue of Stephen Douglas, who had owned thousands of acres in this neighborhood, many of which he donated to the city of Chicago.
The nearly 70 units sold, of a total 240, have gone to people whose jobs are nearby: local nurses, teachers, firefighters and police officers. Two local institutions, Michael Reese Hospital and Mercy Hospital, are big employers. Meanwhile, the Department of Planning and Development is pushing for more ground-floor retail ventures in the Cottage Grove neighborhood with residential units above them. A shopping center sits a block west of Woodland Park.
CLOSE TO THE SOUTH LOOP
"This is close to my job and close to the South Loop, where I hang out," said Arlecia Taylor, a 26-year-old facilitator with the Chicago Public Schools who moved into an 820-square-foot, 1-bedroom condo at Woodland Park two months ago. Her condo cost $140,000, and now it takes her only 10 minutes to drive to work. Taylor lived at home with her parents before she arrived in Bronzeville and was amazed that she found such a reasonably priced place after searching for about a year.
The price of a 1-bedroom apartment at Woodland Park starts at $150,000, and a 2-bedroom unit runs from $179,000. Northern Realty also offers a 2-bedroom deluxe and a 3-bedroom apartment. "In reality, because of the costs in the neighborhood, virtually all of the properties are available affordably," Tobin added.
Single women who are financially stable enough to buy their own homes are attracted to Woodland Park. For them, it offers gated security, limited access points, guards and managers on duty and a maintenance and landscaping staff. Single women in their late 30s and early 40s are buying enough that Northern Realty is focusing significant advertising on that target group. "Women professionals with steady careers are no longer waiting until they have families to buy homes," Tobin explained. "Security is a primary concern for them."
The biggest influx of homeowners coming to Bronzeville might not be North Siders looking to the other side of Madison Street but those arriving from the suburbs. "It's suburbanites who want to be back [near] downtown who will move to the Near South Side for the attraction of the South Loop," Tobin said. "We have much of the character of suburbia here with our open spaces. The pace of life is not congested like it is in the middle of the city."
BLUES, GOSPEL AND ALL THAT JAZZ PUNCTUATE A HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD
Bronzeville is named for the mass migration of thousands of African Americans arriving here from the South in the early 20th century as they sought plentiful industrial jobs. The term was purportedly coined by an editor of the African-American newspaper the Chicago Bee, which had sponsored a contest in 1930 to elect a "mayor of Bronzeville." At a time when ethnic diversity was not celebrated, the use of the word "bronze" represented an attempt by local residents to avoid referring to theirs as a black community.
Bronzeville is a bastion of Chicago history and once was the city's cultural capital. Dubbed the birthplace of American jazz, blues and gospel, Bronzeville in the 1930s hosted the soaring jazz talents of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey.
Proponents say the neighborhood has the potential to claim that title once again should the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics be successful.
A memorial statue of Illinois Sen. Stephen Douglas, who died shortly after losing the 1860 presidential election to Abraham Lincoln, stands just to the east of Woodland Park, facing Lake Michigan.
The 1893 World's Fair to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival was held in nearby Jackson Park.
posted by Jacob Wheeler at
12:27 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home