The Grant at Woodlawn Park to Replace Grove Parc Plaza Apartments

Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH,) is in the second phase of Woodlawn Park, a development that will replace Grove Parc Plaza Apartments, a longtime troubled neighborhood on Chicago’s south side at 63rd and Cottgae Grove.
Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH,) is in the second phase of Woodlawn Park, a development that will replace Grove Parc Plaza Apartments, a longtime troubled neighborhood on Chicago’s south side at 63rd and Cottgae Grove.

Only four years ago, the aging 500 plus-unit Grove Parc Plaza Apartments stood as an eyesore on Cottage Grove Avenue. In a dramatic turnaround, The Grant at Woodlawn Park, the second phase of new-construction, mixed-income housing that is replacing the formerly blighted buildings, was chosen as the overall winner and master planned winner in Affordable Housing Finance Magazine’s 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards.

Developed and owned by Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), the 33-unit Grant joins the 67-unit LEED Platinum Jackson, along Cottage Grove between 60th and 63rd Streets, in transforming the avenue into an inviting gateway into Woodlawn. Furthering that process, recently POAH was joined by HUD Secretary Julian Castro and Mayor Rahm Emanuel as ground was broken for a 65-unit senior building and a new youth sports facility being built by MetroSquash just across the street from The Grant.

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When complete, Woodlawn Park will include 420 residential units on the Grove Parc site and 65,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The project will provide more than 100 full-time construction-related jobs during the four year development period, as well as creating permanent jobs in the neighborhood.

“With the demolition of all former Grove Parc Plaza complete, and the completion of 350 new and rehabbed mixed-income apartments on the Avenue and in the surrounding neighborhood, Woodlawn is once again becoming a neighborhood of choice,” says Bill Eager, who directs POAH’s endeavors in Chicago. “It’s gratifying that the national housing community recognizes the transformation that is occurring here.”

In 2011, the City, in partnership with POAH, received $30.5 million as one of the first recipients of a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant to support new and renovated housing, as well as programs and services for Woodlawn residents, broader investment in community schools, public safety, infrastructure and job training. Introduced by the Obama Administration, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is a strategic approach intended to help transform high-poverty, distressed neighborhoods into communities with healthy, affordable housing, safe streets and access to quality educational opportunities.

“The strategy that has guided POAH’s work since our founding has been a marriage of common sense and complexity - build new mixed-income housing to replace outmoded, all low-income housing, and acquire and transform vacant or distressed buildings into well-managed, well-appointed properties throughout the community,” said POAH President Amy Anthony. “With the help of the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative we have also had the resources to involve community leaders and the private sector to ensure that Woodlawn can also develop the fundamental resources a healthy community needs to thrive.”

Thirty-four nationwide inspiring developments were selected as finalists for the 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards. The Grant at Woodlawn Park, which serves families earning 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income, was chosen based on the transformative changes and positive community impact the development is having on Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood.

The formal public presentation of the 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards will take place in Chicago at a ceremony scheduled for Thursday, November 20, 2014, during the Affordable Housing Finance conference.

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