Habitat Co. Secures Loan for Chicago Mixed-Use Project
The community's full build out will include 350 multifamily units and 120,000 square feet of commercial space.
Rendering of Ogden Commons. Image courtesy of The Habitat Company
The Habitat Co. has closed on financing for the development of the first building of OC Living, a four-story 92-unit mixed-income multifamily community located at 1325 W. Washtenaw Ave. in Chicago.
The project is the second phase and first multifamily component of Ogden Commons, a 10-acre, $200 million mixed-use opportunity-zoned project that is under development.
Ultimately, 350 mixed-income units are anticipated at the site, in addition to 120,000 square feet of commercial space. The first building of OC Living has broken ground, and the community is expected to open in spring of 2024.
At full build-out, the first building in OC Living will be divided into a mix of 23 studio, 60 one-bedroom and nine two-bedroom apartments, 90 percent of which will be designated as affordable. Amenities will include a walking path, landscaped lawn, children’s playground and connections to the development’s existing and future commercial spaces. Situated north of Old Route 66 and West Ogden Avenue, the community is in close proximity to several local parks, with downtown Chicago only three miles away.
An opportunity-zoned community
Rendering of Ogden Commons. Image courtesy of The Habitat Company
Development of Ogden Commons began in 2018, with The Habitat Co., leading a joint venture alongside Bank of America, Alecko Capital and Sinai Health System, with assistance from Chicago’s municipal government.
McHugh Construction Co. and Bowa Construction are providing contracting services. The entirety of the project is expected to be complete in 2026.
At the time of its announcement, the project marked the largest opportunity-zoned development in the city. The first phase, a three-story, 30,000-square-foot commercial building, secured $22 million in development financing in 2020, and finished construction in 2021. Currently, it hosts a Momentum Coffee café, a Wintrust Bank and an Express Care medical office operated by Sinai Health Systems.
Mixed-use utility
Driven by valuable real estate at sites that could best have both residential and commercial uses, as well as renter desires for more than places to live, mixed-use development has been on the upswing, with supply quadrupling over the past decade, according to a June 2022 report from RentCafe.com. At present, Chicago ranks fifth in development, with 15,800 of such units under construction, data from the report shows.
Recent mixed-use projects in The Windy City include Mavrek Development, GW Properties, Luxury Living and Double Eagle Development’s groundbreaking on The Saint Grand, a 21-story mixed-use project in the Streeterville neighborhood. In December of 2022, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield unveiled plans for a the redevelopment of the Westfield Old Orchard mall in Skokie into a mix of multifamily and retail spaces.
