Fewer units, same height for mixed-income housing plan

by BRIAN NADIG

A revised plan for a mixed-income housing complex in Jefferson Park calls for fewer units but for the height to remain seven stories.

The building would be constructed on the southern half of a parcel at 5150 N. Northwest Hwy., where a former food processing plant is located. A five-story storage warehouse is planned for the northern half of the site.

Under the revised plan, the number of apartments would be reduced from 100 to 75, and each floor would be smaller in size compared to last year’s proposal to help address the community’s density concerns and to reduce construction costs, said a spokesman for Alderman John Arena (45th).

The $26 million project would include five studio units, 16 one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units and 38 three-bedroom units. The previous plan called for 51 three-bedroom units.

"By reducing the number of three-bedroom units, we can further ensure the development’s minimal impact on our local schools and area traffic," Arena said in a statement.

The seven-story complex would feature entertainment and fitness rooms, a library, a business center, outdoor recreation space and a dog run, Arena said.

The first floor would include 5,000 square feet of commercial space, and 40 parking spaces are planned. The site qualifies for a reduction in the normal one parking space for each unit requirement due to its proximity to the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Transit Center.

Most of the apartments would be leased at below the market rate.

Plans call for 60 percent of the units to be leased to families earning up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income and for 20 percent to be offered to those earning 30 percent of the median income.

Some of the units targeting households earning 60 percent of the median income would include rental assistance from the Chicago Housing Authority. "The 30 percent (AMI) units and the rental assistance units offer rents more affordable to seniors, veterans and persons with disabilities on fixed incomes, while the market and 60 percent AMI units offer rents across the spectrum of working families, including those with a disability and veterans," a Full Circle spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman said that the CHA has agreed to give a preference to veterans and the disabled for those tenants requiring rental assistance.

A Gladstone Park commercial corridor study, which covers the area north of the Kennedy Expressway, calls for new construction to be limited to four stories. A Jefferson Park master plan, that has not been finalized, reportedly will not include height and density recommendations.

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