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City Farm Site Making Way for New Mixed-Income Development

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A long-time community staple of Chicago's Near North Side, City Farm has received a rather permanent plowing of its vegetable beds as construction equipment prepares the city-owned site for mixed-use redevelopment. Dubbed 1200 N. Clybourn, a new seven-story building will soon take root at the wedge-shaped parcel located near the site of the former Cabrini-Green housing projects. The development will deliver 26 public housing units, 26 affordable units, and 32 market rate units in addition to 17,000 square feet of ground floor commercial retail space. It is expected to include a daycare center with play lot and at least one restaurant with on-site job training facilities.

In the works since 2010, the project is a partnership between Brinshore Development and Michaels Development Company. While its $39 million price tag was assisted by $8.1 million in tax increment financing (TIF) dollars, 1200 N. Clybourn also factors into the Chicago Housing Authority's larger plans to bring thousands of new residences (public, affordable rate, and market rate) to the former Cabrini-Green's 65 acres of vacant or underdeveloped space.

Architecture is homegrown with building design handled by Chicago's Pappageorge Haymes Partners with a street-facing corner plaza drawn by local landscape stand-out Site Design Group Ltd. 1200 N. Clybourn features a horizontally textured facade as a contextual nod to Helmut Jahn's stainless steel Schiff Residences to the immediate north while also sharing its neighbor's commitment to environmental sustainability. The new project includes a community vegetable garden, a green roof, and beehives to attract Chicago's indispensable flying pollinators.

While it is bittersweet to see City Farm leave the Division and Clybourn site that it has occupied since 2003, fans of the non-profit organization will be pleased to hear that it has relocated slightly west to a new urban homestead at the intersection of Division and Larrabee.

·Mixed Income Development Ready to Take Over City Farm Site [Curbed Chicago]
·Plan Commission Greenlights Parkside, Dual Towers & More [Curbed Chicago]
·Seven Story Development Sowing Near North Side City Farm [Curbed Chicago]