Rendering by DesignBridge, Ltd.
Chicago is proud of its architecture – despite Donald Trump’s cringe-worthy addition to the riverside – and rightly so. But beyond the striking high-rises that line the Chicago River, the city has seen a quiet renaissance of green, safe, beautifully designed, and affordable housing projects.
A permit for one such project – known as “Casa Querétaro” – at 1614 South Damen Avenue in the working class Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, has just been issued, according to Chicago building permit data analyzed by BuildZoom. The development is being spearheaded by The Resurrection Project (TRP) and the construction will be managed by Den Construction. Construction on Casa Querétaro is slated to be complete in 2015.
Casa Querétaro’s purpose is to extend the mission of TRP by providing high quality, safe, and affordable housing for local residents. The $10 million permit indicates that the structure, designed by Designbridge, Ltd., will rest on “vibropiers” and qualify the structure as LEED silver, a certification based on various elements of energy efficiency and sustainability.
The building will contain 45 units (a mix of 1-, 2-, and 3- bedroom apartments) with 15 units reserved for Chicago Housing Authority renters: low-income families who have obtained a voucher that allows them to rent in the private market. Per the project proposal, the rest of the units will be affordable for households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income. All this packaged in a beautiful, thoughtful urban design.
Rendering by DesignBridge, Ltd.
Alongside the likely economic impact this will have on the Pilsen neighborhood, Casa Querétaro will deliver a positive environmental return as well. TRP purchased the site from the city for $1. For a 46,000 square foot lot in Chicago, no matter where, a dollar seems just a bit low. But the appraisal revealed that the lot requires extensive environmental remediation, to the tune of $812,000.
A 2014 environmental site assessment detected “arsenic, lead, PNA’s, and PCB’s.” (Three letter acronyms for chemicals: you just know they’re bad. Put simply, all four of these chemicals and elements are relics of older industrial infrastructures and manufacturing. The presence of these chemicals highlights a disturbing and often ignored fact: income inequality in America, as egregious as it is, looks good compared to pollution inequality.
Because the site is considered a “brownfield redevelopment,” or the re-use of contaminated property, the surrounding neighborhood will likely see a significant rise in property value and a reduction in crime rates, according to EPA studies. Casa Querétaro will move the community forward on multiple fronts.
The Resurrection Project launched in 1990 with $30,000 in seed money from local Pilsen neighborhood churches, which funded a community organization to work against blight, gang violence, and the lack of safe, affordable housing and quality education. To date, TRP reports that they have helped invest more than $250 million in projects such as financial education, workshops for homeowners, and real estate development. According to a Chicago Department of Planning and Development report, TRP has “created more than 400 for-sale and rental homes/apartments, developed 150,000 square feet of commercial space for community needs, and served thousands in community and civic engagement initiatives.”
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