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Showing posts with label development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label development. Show all posts

Monday, March 20, 2023

Chicago Tonight: CTA & City eyes community centric development around future Red Line extension #Ward09 #ChiMayor23

 

[VIDEO] I suppose this could be a question for both Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson for the 2023 runoff, what is their position on the CTA Red Line extension. What would they be able to do to make this future extension into Ward 9/Roseland a reality?

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

WBEZ: The other Michigan Ave in Roseland poised for a comeback

 I would like to see the shopping strip south of 111th Street at least get the attention it needs. From Chicago Public Radio:

Roseland is the last of the 10 communities targeted for redevelopment under the city’s ambitious INVEST South/West economic program; Michigan Avenue is a centerpiece. Compared to other neighborhoods struggling with vacant land, this part of Michigan Avenue has comparatively few – only 10 empty lots, according to my informal count.

The city owns three vacant lots in the vicinity, including the former Gately’s department store at the corner of 112th and Michigan. The city’s vision for that location is housing with retail stores. The planned CTA Red Line extension is a few blocks south near 116th and Michigan, and the city wants to develop the land next to it. And there’s a third vacant lot that was the site of a movie theater that Cox sees as a blank canvas.

Other elements of the city’s revitalization plan include affordable housing, transit-oriented development and retail connected to the emerging medical district anchored by the nearby Roseland Community Hospital. Normally when the city looks to redevelop land it owns, its department of planning and development, which Cox leads, puts out a request for proposals.

“We found that that was an unfair barrier for a lot of Black and brown developers,” Cox said. Instead Cox says the city is asking for a request of qualifications for Michigan Avenue. Developers and architects will then be matched up to create a joint venture. Those teams will each get a $20,000 to $30,000 stipend from a philanthropic foundation to pitch a proposal.

“We eliminate that barrier of smaller emerging developers from being able to compete and having to advance those dollars to come up with their proposals,” Cox said.

The community will hear the proposals by March 2023.

Read the whole thing. Perhaps this is something that those candidates running for Alderman in Ward 9 where this strip is located can express their ideas.

Oh and there is a theater in the neighborhood still standing waiting for redevelopment although if that vacant lot that once had a theater is the State Theater perhaps if they could make a good deal with the Post Office. 

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Community vision discussion Roseland Medical District Master Plan

Meeting One:

Community Vision Discussion

You are invited and encouraged to participate in planning for the Roseland Community Medical District Master Plan.

Lavizzo Elementary
138 W. 109th St.
Chicago, IL 60628

When?
Community Vision Discussion
Saturday, November 6, 2021
10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

CTA Red Line extension project #RLEReady #Ward09

[VIDEO] CTA has a new video out about the CTA Red Line extension that is still being planned that takes the Red Line further south into Roseland and Altgeld Gardens where the final destination is 130th Street. The next critical phase for this ambitious project is construction which is expected to cost $2.3 billion half of that would come from federal funding and the rest from non-federal funding i.e from the city of Chicago, state of Illinois and/or even CTA itself.

I like these renderings of the various stops on the southbound Red Line extensions.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Editorial: The Avenue could again become magnificent #Ward09

The Chicago Neighborhood
This editorial from the Chicago Sun-Times makes reference to last year's fire at the former Gatelys Department store on the Michigan Avenue shopping strip south of 111th Street. It's probably time to redevelop that corridor, especially in time for that Red Line extension whenever it gets funded and construction starts.
Keep an eye on the Roseland neighborhood’s Michigan Avenue, once a retail strip so popular it was called Chicago’s second Magnificent Mile.

Shoppers could find anything from school supplies to furniture to brand new cars.

Rocked by two devastating extra-alarm fires within the last year, and now slammed by a pandemic that’s likely to change forever how we shop and gather, the faded and struggling commercial strip faces a tough future.

But “The Avenue” — as this stretch of Michigan Avenue between 115th and 107th was called in its heyday — now is being targeted by the city for possible redevelopment.

The plans were in place before the coronavirus broke out and they’ll need to be modified. But given that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit all traditional retail strips hard — have you seen the boarded up stores on North Michigan Avenue these days? — saving The Avenue should be even more of a priority.

When neighborhood shopping dies, neighborhoods die.

The Avenue’s day as a regional commercial giant are not likely to return. People just don’t shop in brick-and-mortar stores the way they used to, and the street’s major retailers, such as JCPenney, are long gone.

But the buildings still stand and could be reused in potentially exciting new ways. And if done correctly, the lessons learned here could be applied to troubled commercial streets in neighborhoods elsewhere on the South and West sides.
Probably excerpted a lot more than I should've so I'll stop there and hope that you'll read the whole thing.

The editorial itself makes reference to this strip's proximity to the Pullman National Monument. How could the businesses and the community leverage that. The Avenue - at least for those old school residents might refer to the strip - might not return to the glory days. I still would like to see what plans could develop with revitalization. What entrepreneurs can become successful in this area.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

The site of the former Halsted Indoor Mall #tbt

I snapped these shots of the site of the former shopping center on 115th & Michigan during the summer of 2014. I never released the shots back then, but I wanted to share the context of this site with this article from the Chicago Reader which was actually published in 2003.

It illustrated the history of the former Halsted Indoor Mall which was once housed in a building that once contained a Zayre store. The shopping center here contained both a Foot Locker store and a beauty supply as well as a Jewel-Osco. However at some point all these stores have since closed. The Jewel-Osco closed once a new store was built at the new shopping center located at 119th Street and Marshfield (or on the west side of I-57) should be around 2007 or 2008.

I do remember shopping with my family at the old Zayre store and the old Jewel store you see in the photos below was another shopping destination over the years until the new store opened across the I-57 expressway. One ominous piece of information I learned shopping here one day, my mother was told by another customer that they did snatch purses in that store. YIKES!

At some point after 2012 the former Halsted Indoor Mall was razed, I see this looking at Google Streetview. And that largely ends the saga of the former space which seemed to riddled with some issues involving it's management by the people who operated the space and certainly the people who owned it. The property itself remains vacant with the idea of at some point perhaps something else will be developed here. Perhaps more retail or even some mixed-use retail and residential.

Below are the photographs from summer 2014. I wish I had a pic of the sign on the corner of 115th & Halsted which even the last time I drove by here still had a sign for the Halsted Indoor Mall although the building no longer stands.





Here's a Google Streetview of this property before the Indoor Mall building was razed from 2012 after this you see it's no longer standing. And as stated already the above photos were shot in the summer of 2014.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel floats port district land as Chicago casino location #Serving17

Even though Rahm Emanuel will only remain mayor until May 2019, he seems to be coming up with some proposals. He's still trying to use what's left of his political heft to come up with some ideas for the city:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday floated a port district site on the Far Southeast Side as the possible location for a Chicago casino, if state lawmakers finally grant the city the long-sought gambling palace.

In a meeting with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Emanuel noted his “love-hate” relationship with the idea of a casino but said if the city finally builds one it should be away from the Loop and McCormick Place. Instead, he said it should bring economic development to an area of the city that needs it, before floating an Illinois International Port District site near Pullman as “an example.”

The land, just off the 111th Street exit on the Bishop Ford Freeway, currently is home to the Harborside International golf course with some harbor operations and terminals nearby on Lake Calumet. The port district that owns the land is a joint city-state entity.

“If you go down to the port authority where the golf course is, there’s enough land there for both a hotel and a casino,” Emanuel said. “That would be a big boon economically to the Southeast Side of the city.”

Emanuel made the remarks on the same day he gave a speech to aldermen on his recommendations to address the city’s pension funding shortfalls moving forward. The mayor’s plan included revenue from a proposed Chicago casino as part of the answer.
Personally I'm with this, who says a proposed casino has to be in or near downtown Chicago. Put one in a neighborhood that's struggling. In this case Pullman, and then again hopefully there are other proposals.

However, to be honest it seems like forever that there's been discussions of a Chicago casino that seems to have a tendency to fall through. So perhaps deciding on a site or finally building one will still take years. Wait and see I suppose.

h/t to state Sen. Elgie Sims FB page hence why I used the #Serving17 hashtag.
 

Monday, November 12, 2018

CBS 2: Pullman Neighborhood Booms, While Roseland Neighborhood Struggles Nextdoor #Ward09

[VIDEO] I'm sorry I missed this report from over the past summer. WBBM-TV looks at a tale of two communities with Pullman to the west being revitalized with a variety of redevelopment with retail and most of historic Pullman now a national monument.

And now you have Roseland which even Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) would refer to blight as he stands at the commercial area on Michigan Avenue. You see him speaking between Pullman and Michigan Avenue and he sees revitalization in Roseland.

I have thought about making a comparison say between Streeterville in Downtown Chicago and say River North or North Michigan Ave from east to west. Streeterville is a very wealthy area, but then the areas near by are also wealthy and probably can't compare so easily to Pullman and Roseland.

Pullman has the history, architecture and now a national monument and some other development. Roseland with it's own history and blight is waiting for it's own revitalization. If I had my own vision Pullman could be the area of choice for many because of it's history. Then again what about Roseland?

Roseland could be neighborhood for everyone else. It's the land of opportunity and like Englewood it's sort of blank canvas. The right vision will for example see a revitalized Michigan Avenue strip no more boarded up storefronts or vacant lots. And of course a wonderful place to live just like their neighbors to the east.

BTW, if any smart aspiring politicians are reading this blog I can only imagine the "campaign ads" that come from this short video.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Pullman Communicy Center opened on Thursday

[VIDEO] Sorry to have missed this. The new Pullman Community Center located near 103rd & Woodlawn has finally opened. We start with the above video from CBS 2 and then excerpt from this Sun-Times article
After nearly a decade of planning and a frenzied round of corporate fundraising, a $20 million, 135,000-square-foot sports, recreation and educational center opened its doors at 10355 S. Woodlawn Ave.

The massive U.S. Bank Pullman Community Center is one of the largest indoor sports facilities in Illinois and the fifth-largest in the country. It includes three basketball/tennis courts and three synthetic turf fields that can be used for baseball, football and soccer.

The facility also includes community meeting rooms and classroom space.

“We’re looking at keeping 1,100 kids a week off the streets, doing something positive and constructive. A facility that’s gonna be open probably 12 to 14 hours a day. That gives people opportunity. It gives ’em hope,” Beale said Thursday.

“If you’re struggling in school and you’re enrolled in this facility, we’re gonna provide free ACT, SAT and tutoring in whatever subject that you need.”

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Curbed Chicago: Englewood residents organize to take back their block


Via @buyblackeconomics
Over at The Sixth Ward we've discussed the "dreaded G word" especially as it pertained to the now open Whole Foods Market in Englewood. I always figured that the activists of Englewood - I'm mainly referring to the Resident Association of Greater Englewood - would find a way to stop gentrification.

If there was a fear that long-time small businesses or long-time low-income residents could eventually be displaced by long term economic redevelopment then perhaps Englewood residents who "buy the block" will change the direction of redevelopment. For many the Whole Foods store would likely be the beginning of this, but then if I recall the history there were some Englewood residents who fantasized about Whole Foods coming in and they did.

As you see in this article below buying the block is about buying up residential properties. Check it out below from Curbed Chicago.
If you bought a whole city block or a vacant lot, what would you like to do with it?

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Chicago Reader: Pullman to get first new residential building in nearly 50 years

Via Chicago Neighborhoods

More changes coming to the historically and architecturally significant Pullman neighborhood.

The historic Pullman neighborhood is getting 38 units of affordable housing inside a new $18 million artists' enclave—some 124 years after Pullman railroad car workers went on strike over the company's refusal to lower their rents after cutting their pay.

The Pullman Artspace Lofts, a new apartment building to be built between two long-abandoned Pullman workers' housing units, sits on three-quarters of an acre on Langley Avenue, just south of 111th Street. The three-story, 32,000-square-foot complex sits on land that's been vacant for 88 years. The construction itself marks the first new residential development built in Pullman in nearly half a century. It's unique because it will house 2,000 square feet of community space intended to be used as an art gallery, meeting place, classrooms, and community room. It's expected to open in early fall 2019.

The Artspace Lofts is a home-grown project in a neighborhood that has more than its share of artists, including painters, musicians, filmmakers, sculptors, and ceramicists, said architect Ann Alspaugh, a board member and past president of Pullman Arts, a neighborhood nonprofit whose volunteers have worked on the development for the past eight years.

"It's [the result of] a lot of hard work by a lot of people," she said, noting that the project required meeting and even exceeding local and state landmark and historic district requirements, obtaining unconventional funding, and conducting detailed feasibility studies. 
 I might have a few shots of the land where these lofts are to be located to be shared in the future. There was a period of time that I strolled through Pullman either on foot or driving where I took a series of photographs. And surely the work in Pullman is still not completed at least not yet! 

Friday, June 22, 2018

Washington Monthly: South Side story

The Chicago Neighborhoods
 Sorry to have sat on this since the spring. A story about the Pullman neighborhood. Or "How a historic Chicago neighborhood became a national model for community revitalization."
Yet one lower-income South Side neighborhood manages to defy the ironclad logic of the favored quarter: historic Pullman, a vibrant enclave in the middle of the South Side that is home to equal numbers of African Americans, Latinos, and whites. (Not all South and West neighborhoods are poor, but most of those doing well economically—Hyde Park, the Near West Side, Bridgeport, and Beverly—are predominantly white and Asian.)

Strolling down Pullman’s St. Lawrence Avenue, whose shaded sidewalks are fronted by side-by-side duplexes, you notice the same redbrick charm that characterizes the North Side. Yet in Pullman, you can land a well-kept three-bedroom duplex down the block from a cozy café and around the corner from one of the city’s top-rated public elementary schools at a price that wouldn’t go far in swank precincts across town. Residents enjoy many of the conveniences of North Side living, too. At the new Pullman Park development, there’s a Walmart (watering this former food desert), a clothing store, a Planet Fitness health club, a locally owned dry cleaners, and Pullman’s first sit-down restaurant in decades.

The relative peace and prosperity of Pullman in the midst of the hard-hit South Side highlights the promise of “asset-based” community development—the idea that focusing on the strengths of a particular place is just as important as targeting the problems. This model offers practical lessons for other neighborhoods across the country suffering from economic disinvestment and social unraveling. In Pullman’s case, a remarkable degree of resilience has arisen from these assets: high levels of civic engagement; a physical environment that encourages walking and social interaction; access to resources tied to historic preservation; and an ambitious community developer planting stakes in the neighborhood.

If the name Pullman sounds vaguely familiar, it’s likely because of the legendary railroad sleeping cars built here from 1881 to 1955. Pullman was no grimy slum, but actually one of the most celebrated urban planning projects of the nineteenth century—providing a good place to live was part of owner George Pullman’s mission to elevate the character of his workers. The London Times declared the elegant public buildings and squares flanked by single-family homes for managers and handsome brick townhouses for workers “the most perfect town in the world.” The other reason you may have heard of Pullman is that in 1894 the company’s workers responded to wage cuts with no reduction in rent at company-owned housing with a historic strike.
Read the whole thing!

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Tribune: Politics, funding impede Pullman restoration as monument approaches 3rd anniversary

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods
This Tribune article updates us on the progress of that Pullman National Monument announced by then President Barack Obama in 2015:
Since 2015, Pullman National Monument has moved sluggishly toward these goals. The state-owned grounds are in the midst of an extensive cleanup from decades of industrial waste. The National Park Service’s visitors center, planned for the clock tower building, has been pushed back at least a year. Plans mapping out the monument’s long-term future were supposed to be completed within three years but are only now beginning. State and federal money has been minimal, and progress on some projects has been slowed because of several federal government shutdowns and an unprecedented two-year state budget standoff.

The one project that could move forward, an apartment building for artists, is on hold after federal officials told the developers to seek additional input from the public.

“My wife and I have been here for 50 years, and we’ve seen different cycles and levels of interest from people working in Pullman,” said resident Mike Shymanski. Progress “takes time and takes patience, but once the restoration is done it’ll be around a long time.”

Pullman was expected to draw 300,000 visitors per year by 2025, however, with its current annual attendance at only 50,000, those estimates seem ambitious.

Now, the park is contending with a president who is less supportive of conservation. The Trump administration recently shrunk two Utah national monuments, bringing about at least two legal challenges and legislation to counter the move.
Here's something from Tribune Graphics showing a map of the Pullman area under the national parks.
While it's not looking that good there are some positive developments:
The first floor of the state-owned Hotel Florence could open even sooner, possibly over the summer after contractors finish building an accessibility ramp and restoring and furnishing the elaborate interior.

The park service also plans to work outside the monument to generate buzz through a grant from the McCormick Foundation to develop curriculum in area classrooms on nationally significant themes: transformation of passenger rail travel, urban planning, Pullman’s role in the American labor movement and the porters’ civil rights movement.
What are the plans for the Hotel Florence? I'm very keen on finding out!

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Pullman gets a 2nd Gotham Greens facility

Via Reana / Flickr
Found a post about this on instagram recently, and decided to find the accompanying story for this via Chicago Tribune. There's something going on in Pullman with that Whole Foods distribution center and now Gotham Greens coming with a new greenhouse:
The new $12.5 million, 105,000-square-foot greenhouse will be on South Doty Avenue on the former Ryerson industrial site in Pullman, according to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, near the company’s first Pullman greenhouse on top of the Method soap factory. The expansion reflects both the company’s success in the Chicago market — through selling its products in chains including Jewel-Osco and Whole Foods Market — as well as the continued redevelopment of the Pullman area. While Gotham’s first Pullman greenhouse was a rooftop structure, the second one will be free-standing.

“We’re thrilled to be building a second, larger, state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in Pullman,” Gotham Greens CEO Viraj Puri said in an email. “Retailers, institutional food service operators are increasingly attracted to consistency and reliability of our year-round, local produce supply. Further, consumer interest in locally produced food continues to grow.”
...
The project could receive up to $3.35 million in tax increment financing assistance for site work on 6.2 acres, though that’s still subject to City Council approval, according to the mayor’s office. The existing zoning of the planned development would also need to be amended to allow for light manufacturing, according to the mayor’s office.

The land — situated just north of Planet Fitness along the Bishop Ford Expressway — is part of the former Ryerson industrial site owned by U.S. Bank and Pullman-based nonprofit developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.

David Doig, president of CNI, said the nonprofit would improve the site before selling it to Gotham Greens for up to $800,000.

The new Gotham Greens greenhouse will employ about 60 workers.
Here's the aforementioned ig post by Ian Lantz below!

A post shared by Ian Lantz (@ianlantzart) on

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Whole Foods Market distribution facility open in Pullman

This all occurred yesterday including the bread breaking which is what they do when they open new stores. For example they did the same thing upon opening the Whole Foods store at 63rd/Halsted. This is from the Mayor's ig page.
And also Elgie Sims - state representative of the 34th District for Illinois - was also in on the action and also posted a college of pics on his ig page also.



Here are some related tweets to this event from some local media sources



Thursday, September 14, 2017

A new sidewalk near the coming Whole Foods Market disribution center in Pullman

Last year I took a walk along 111th Street towards the Pullman Walmart store and noted the lack of a sidewalk. This was not long after the announced Whole Foods Distribution Center was unveiled. If you have plenty of workers - who may be taking public transportation - at a facility that is presumably 24/7 this spot isn't very accessible.
Photo taken in April 2016
Now with other amenities coming and plans for other warehouses to come to the former site of a steel mill near the site of the Walmart anchored shopping center near 111th/Doty we now get a sidewalk. No more stepping on mud or stepping into the street! I'm sorry that these pics were taken at dusk and that you get an east and west shot here.
Photos taken Sept. 2017
From this particular evening there are more photos to come which hopefully will be see on @thesixthward instagram account.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Update on the planning for CTA Red Line extension

CTA Red Line extension
Recently got an update with regards to where the Chicago Transit Authority is currently with the planned Red Line extension south from 95th Street to 130th St. near Altgeld Gardens. You can read a two sheet update here from their official website.

With this in mind there are two videos with regards to the extension which in my opinion is beneficial to the far south side of Chicago. However, what I strive to do on this blog is to be fair and the first video is a local homeowner who is opposed to the Red Line extension because it's construction means the destruction of homes as far as whatever alignment the CTA will choose.

This first video is courtesy of The Chicago Reporter - and posted to YouTube in December 2016 - and shows commentary by Shari Henry who opposes the extension as the project could threaten her family home. We see a drive around through the communities that are affected by this proposed project. As I may hope there could be further development Henry uses 95th as a guide with little business development around the 95th Terminal. [VIDEO]
The next video shows a proposal for the revitalization of the intersection at 115th & Michigan - although yeah they refer to this as 116th & Michigan. This is geared towards transit oriented development with mixed use buildings that hopefully will include storefronts, low-income housing, a grand entrance to the nearby L station, and greenspace to be used for community events. Seems like a great plan that should be considered even if it must be refined. The video was posted to YouTube in May 2017. [VIDEO]
Here's yet another video which was posted to YouTube in Dec. 2012 - 4 years ahead of The Chicago Reporter video with Shari Henry. Of course this is a video that is in favor of the Red Line extension to 130th Street and certainly wants us to know the benefits of building this extension. An hour commute to downtown Chicago for cultural, education, or even jobs. The far south side won't be so disconnected or it won't take so long to take advantage of all the opportunities the city of Chicago has to offer. [VIDEO]
Forgot to add the above video was before the 2013 Red Line south reconstruction and before the current redevelopment of the 95th Red Line terminal.

What you see below is the project development phase which is the final environmental impact statement and record of decision as far as the Red Line alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad route. I suppose this means which side of the tracks will have their properties impacted which is also explained in the two-page report from CTA.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Tribune: Planned warehouses could bring thousands of jobs to Pullman

On Wednesday @thesixthward on instagram reposted a screen cap that is a rendering of the future warehouses expected to come near 103rd/Stony Island provided by this Chicago Tribune article. As a matter of fact, these warehouses will be closer to 111th Street near the Walmart. Below I will share the post provided by Ian Lantz who owns The Pullman Cafe.
A post shared by Ian Lantz (@ianlantzart) on

And now onto the article itself which lays out future development in Pullman:
Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Cos. and nonprofit community developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives said they plan multiple industrial buildings totaling as much as 1.2 million square feet on land immediately north of the Whole Foods facility. U.S. Bank, which owns the land, is also involved in the project.

The exact number of jobs will depend on the type of tenants that lease space, but the project could potentially create as many as thousands of jobs, according to 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale.

"This is the culmination of a lot of our work to bring more jobs to the community," said David Doig, president of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives. "In the last 30 to 40 years this area has lost tens of thousands of jobs, which has been a source of the area's decline. Jobs are important in rebuilding the area."

Construction of the more than 50-acre complex, called Pullman Crossings, could begin by next summer, said Tim Hennelly, Ryan's president for the Great Lakes region.

The warehouses will be along 103rd Street and Woodlawn Avenue, just west of Interstate 94 and Harborside International Golf Center.

Warehouses are the latest phase of the larger, 180-acre Pullman Park development to replace a former Ryerson Steel plant. Previous phases brought in the nearby Method Products soap factory and Gotham Greens rooftop greenhouse.

The community, which once had a dearth of shopping options, also has been boosted in recent years by a Walmart store and other retail, including Ross Dress for Less and Planet Fitness.
Tribune Graphics provided an illustration of the expected development.
There is of course more to come beyond these warehouses to come near the Walmart in Pullman:
Other construction in the area includes the 135,000-square-foot Pullman Community Center at 103rd and Woodlawn and retail buildings at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, where a Potbelly sandwich shop, a bakery and a dry cleaner will open later this year.

A visitors center to the Pullman National Monument, created in 2015 by the federal government to commemorate the neighborhood's rail-car-making past, will open in 2019, Doig said.
...
Other construction in the area includes the 135,000-square-foot Pullman Community Center at 103rd and Woodlawn and retail buildings at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, where a Potbelly sandwich shop, a bakery and a dry cleaner will open later this year.

A visitors center to the Pullman National Monument, created in 2015 by the federal government to commemorate the neighborhood's rail-car-making past, will open in 2019, Doig said.
...
The exact number of warehouses will be determined by the preferences of tenants, although the developers may decide to build without leases signed by next summer, Hennelly said. The combined cost of the warehouses could range from $50 million to $90 million, depending on the uses, he said.

Government incentives including tax increment financing, enterprise zone tax breaks and the federal New Markets Tax Credit program could fund about one-third of the warehouse development's cost, Doig said.
Here's hoping these developments will prove to be a boon for Pullman and Roseland.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Curbed Chicago: Plan to renovate Pullman’s historic 1880 factory building is moving forward

Plans are being made to turn the historic Pullman factory and clock tower - located at 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue - to become a visitor center. In addition there will be a interpretive center and HQ for National Park Service operations. This is an initiative of the National Park Service and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.

Thursday, June 9, 2016

From October 2015, photos along 103rd Street

Crossposted from The Sixth Ward

I realized that I failed to what I set out to do a few months ago. I wanted to do a photo essay and basically I started with taking some photos along 103rd Street. This was back in October and although I shared a few pics back then there were than that in my photo library.

For example, I have some pics taken east of King Drive on 103rd Street.
103rd & Rhodes
The pic above I knew at one time as the offices of Congressman Mel Reynolds. In 1995 he was caught up in a sex scandal with an underaged girl and was forced to resign. Unfortunately this property is now vacant and looking for a use since the time of Reynold's having his congressional offices here.

Across the street is a former dry cleaners. It's unclear when this particular building became vacant. Across the street from here is this.
103rd Street between Rhodes and St. Lawrence
In a different time this property had once been home to a McDonald's. That store eventually closed down and was ultimately demolished a with a church built instead.

Beyond this church and the former dry cleaners is this vacant lot.
103rd Street between Rhodes & St. Lawrence
I see this as potention for this part of 103rd and one of many undeveloped lots ready for the right development. To be sure 103rd is largely a commercial corridor and is quite walkable. With the right development it could be a very vibrant corridor.

Of course this is only an example of some of the pics I took in October 2016. I hope to share more of them in the future. And apologies for not sharing these much sooner. My goal is hopefully to come up with some ideas perhaps this part of town could use some bold vision and why not.