Woodlawn Central Master Plan Passes City Council

CITY HALL — City Council this week cleared the way for leaders of a South Side church to build a $580 million “cultural” complex with housing, retail, restaurants and entertainment options in Woodlawn.

City Council on Wednesday greenlit the sprawling Woodlawn Central master plan backed by Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave.

Alderpeople unanimously approved a request from developer J. Byron Brazier — son of Apostolic Church pastor Byron T. Brazier — to rezone eight acres of church-controlled property for housing, commercial, office, retail and entertainment space.

The development’s first phase — a 14-story, 160-foot-tall structure — is set to 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.

Developers plan to secure building permits in early 2027 and complete construction on the first phase by late 2028, 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. In total, it would create up to 999 housing units — including market-rate, affordable and senior housing — while future phases include a performance venue, restaurants and an urban farm, according to the developers’ application.

“This is a project that clearly is for housing, but also for economic development,” Byron T. Brazier told City Council’s zoning committee on Tuesday. “This is a legacy project.”

Alderpeople on the zoning committee advanced the project to the full council on Tuesday and were effusive in their praise of the project.

Supporters have cited the need for increased housing density and economic development in Woodlawn, as well as the conversion of “wasteful,” long-dormant parking lots into new developments.

Opponents have voiced concerns over the size of the buildings, exhaust from car parking areas and the elder Brazier’s 2017 removal of a woman from his congregation over her same-sex marriage.

Woodlawn Central’s approval comes amid a years-long wave of development in the neighborhood that coincides with the construction and opening of the Obama Presidential Center, though Apostolic Church leaders first received a planned development zone for the site in 2005.

Bishop Arthur Brazier, Byron T. Brazier’s father, campaigned for the 1997 demolition of the Green Line east of Cottage Grove Avenue. The ‘L’ was a barrier to development, Byron T. Brazier told the Tribune in 2017.

Opponents of the teardown argued that it was intended to allow Apostolic Church and once-prominent Woodlawn developer Leon Finney to continue buying city-owned parcels along 63rd Street, the Tribune reported in 2018.

Quinn Myers contributed reporting.