Sprawling Woodlawn Central Development, Daily News Building Landmarking Get Zoning Approval

CITY HALL — A $580 million megadevelopment pursued for years by a South Side church to bring housing, retail, restaurants and entertainment options to the 63rd Street corridor won key zoning approval on Tuesday.

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards greenlit the sprawling plans backed by the Apostolic Church of God for a project known as Woodlawn Central.

The committee also advanced plans for the landmarking of the former Chicago Daily News Building along the Chicago River Downtown, a community center expansion in Altgeld Gardens and numerous North Side apartment buildings, among other projects. Plans for a Downtown dispensary originally slated to possibly advance this week were deferred from the meeting agenda.

All of the developments and proposals must still win final approval from the full City Council, which next meets on Wednesday.

Woodlawn Central’s first phase — a 14-story, 160-foot-tall structure — would include two towers connected by a block-long base. It’s planned for an Apostolic Church parking lot between 63rd and 64th streets, Dorchester Avenue and the Metra Electric tracks.

The $134 million phase would include 104 residences, of which 22 would be affordable under the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance, and a 160-room hotel. It would also include 23,000 square feet of retail and 3,500 square feet of commercial space, as well as 300 car parking spaces and parking for 131 bicycles.

The developers plan to secure building permits in early 2027 and complete construction by late 2028 if the project is approved, according to a presentation given to the Plan Commission last month.

The Woodlawn Central site plan was announced at Apostolic Church of God in 2021. It would in total create about 900 housing units, including market-rate, affordable and senior housing. Future phases of the plan include a performance venue, restaurants and an urban farm, according to the developers’ application.

The Woodlawn Central proposal comes amid a years-long wave of development in the neighborhood that coincides with the construction and opening of the nearby Obama Presidential Center.

“This is a project that clearly is for housing, but also for economic development,” Apostolic pastor Byron T. Brazier told the zoning committee on Tuesday. “This is a legacy project. My father, Bishop Brazier, developed 17 developments in Woodlawn, and the church is very proud, so to speak, of the accomplishments we have been able to contribute to over the past 60 years.”

Alderpeople were effusive in their praise of the project on Tuesday, and the development was advanced unanimously.

Here are more details about several of the other proposals advanced by the zoning committee on Tuesday:

Chicago Daily News Building Landmarking

A hulking Art Deco skyscraper that for decades housed the Chicago Daily News newspaper is one step away from being named a Chicago landmark.

The building at 2 N. Riverside Plaza on the Chicago River — situated directly across from the Lyric Opera building — was built in 1929 and designed by storied Chicago architecture firm Holabird and Root, which was also behind Art Deco landmarks such as the Chicago Board of Trade building and the Palmolive Building on Michigan Avenue.

From 1929 to 1960, the building housed the headquarters and printing press of the Chicago Daily News, “one of the city’s most important and widely read daily newspapers,” according to a city landmark report.

Some of Chicago’s most lauded writers, reporters and cartoonists once worked for the Daily News, including Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg, Vaughn Shoemaker and Mike Royko. The paper ceased publication in the late 1970s.

Since then, the Daily News building has been home to a variety of office uses. It’s known for its large riverfront plaza along the south branch of the Chicago River.

Its pending landmark status was requested by the building’s owners who hope to take advantage of a city incentive that allows for a reduction in property taxes for rehab projects at landmarked sites, according to a planning department staffer.

Alderpeople praised the landmarking on Tuesday.

“This structure is a slam dunk for landmark status,” said Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward includes the property. “This will be a great step forward in adaptive reuse of an iconic and historic building.”

“They don’t make them like these any more,” zoning committee chair Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) said. “Beautiful building.”

Lawndale ReDefined, A Mixed-Use Apartment Building On Ogden Avenue

A mixed-use, mixed-income development slated for a vacant property along the Ogden Avenue corridor in North Lawndale was also advanced by the zoning committee.

Several developers are behind the plan, known as Lawndale ReDefined, to build a six-story, 59-unit apartment building at 3400-3436 W. Ogden Ave., which is currently owned by the city.

The building’s ground floor will include retail spaces and a 72-space bike parking room. Forty-eight of the 59 apartments will be earmarked as affordable, according to zoning attorney Sylvia Michas, who is representing the developer.

Fifteen parking spaces will be located at the rear of the property.

Lawndale ReDefined has been in the works for several years under the city’s Invest South/West initiative, launched by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Previously plans for a hotel on the site did not move forward.

Ogden Avenue in North Lawndale has seen an influx of new developments in recent years as the city works with private developers and social service organizations to revitalize the area.

Altgeld Gardens Community Center

An education-focused nonprofit that has operated in the Altgeld Gardens community on Chicago’s Far South Side for decades is seeking zoning approval to renovate an existing building in the complex with classrooms and a community meeting space.

The group, By The Hand Club For Kids, is also planning to construct a one-story addition with additional classrooms and a gymnasium.

By The Hand hosts after-school activities and provides mentoring, meals, transportation and “holistic care” for children from kindergarten through college, according to a presentation given on Tuesday to the zoning committee, which ultimately signed off on the $24 million project.

The nonprofit acquired the central modernist building in question at Altgeld Gardens — known as the Up-Top Building — this spring, according to Michas, who is also representing the group.

By Your Hand plans to expand its after-school offerings and “provide space for the entire community to gather and socialize” at the facility, according to a Plan Commission presentation from June.

North Side Apartment Projects

The zoning committee also advanced numerous apartment projects located across the North and Near Northwest sides.

At 1720-26 N. Clybourn Ave., developer Contemporary Concepts Inc. is seeking to build a five-story, 24-unit apartment building with five total parking spaces.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), whose ward includes the site, said he was in favor of the proposal.

“The lot is partially vacant and partially undeveloped, with a dilapidated existing structure that has fallen into disrepair,” he said. “We do have a need for additional housing on this corridor, which is well served by public transit.”

The committee also OK’d a proposal for a five-story, 28-unit apartment building at 1040 W. Belmont Ave., which would replace a Giordano’s that Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) said on Tuesday was closing on its own volition.

The new building would include two retail spaces on the ground floor. It’s located less than two blocks from the Belmont Brown Line station.

A proposal to build a 30-unit apartment building at 1818-1832 N. Winnebago Ave. near the Blue Line tracks in Bucktown also advanced Tuesday.

Maxwell Evans contributed reporting.