POAH Breaks Ground on Chicago Affordable Community
Fifth City will be developed in accordance with Passive House principles.
Fifth City Commons groundbreaking. Image courtesy of POAH
Preservation of Affordable Housing has broken ground on Fifth City Commons, a 43-unit affordable housing community in Chicago‘s West Side. Upon its completion, the property will serve residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income.
The City of Chicago selected POAH to transform the 1.5-acre vacant site into a sustainable and affordable housing property as part of the global C40 Reinventing Cities competition. Skender and Ashlaur Construction serve as the project’s general contractors. Other partners include engineering firms dbHMS, Rubinos & Mesia Engineers, Omni Ecosystems and TERRA Engineering.
A future affordable community in Garfield Park
The three-story building will incorporate one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans together with a retail component. Common-area amenities are set to include a fitness center, a resident terrace, community rooms, three laundry facilities and bicycle parking.
In addition, Perkins + Will and Nia designed Fifth City as a sustainable property in accordance with the Passive House principles. The all-electric building will feature triple-pane windows, rooftop solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, onsite stormwater retention and on-site composting.
The $38 million project’s financing came from various sources. The City of Chicago provided tax increment financing, HOME investment partnership program assistance, sales tax bonds, 4 percent low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. Enterprise Community Investments serves as the LIHTC and renewable energy credit syndicator, while the construction lender is BMO Harris. Other financing will be provided by ComEd, SPARCC and Illinois Solar for All.
Located at 201 S. Kedzie Ave., in an Opportunity Zone in East Garfield Park, the transit-oriented development is close to Interstate 290 and blocks away from the Kedzie Avenue Green and Blue Line stations. Downtown Chicago is roughly 4 miles east.
