Plans have been announced for the site of the former Ickes Homes, and a developer has been chosen. A partnership, lead by McCaffery Interests with the Community Builders and Antunovich Associates shared the idea for replacement units for the razed site.
The new plan is a four-phase development with a mix of townhomes, walk-ups, and midrise apartments from 22nd Street to 25th Street along State Street. All told, there will be 867 units, with 204 devoted to Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) residents.
The problem? Former Ickes residents, who moved out of the original developments's 1,006 units by 2010, says that this plan presents only half as many units as promised. They were expecting 400 CHA units. Both the CHA and Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) claim that the number was always supposed to be 200, however.
Rewind back to the 2007 CHA Moving to Work plan for Ickes when demolition started, and the replacement units did indeed number 402. By 2009, CHA plans decreased the number to 312. Since then, it's unclear when the units were lowered again to 204.
The development has other plans also. Also on the docket is a mid-size grocery store, and small stores lining the 66,000 square feet of retail space along the first floor on the State Street Side of the development.
According to sketches the developers used to sell the proposal to the CHA, the back end of the development was thought to be sports fields and a running track.
·Ickes Developer Chosen by CHA Eight Years After Demolition [DNA Info]
·Ickes Homes Coverage [Curbed Chicago]
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