CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT AWARDS 2020

by Suzanne Hanney / photos provided by LISC Chicago

Between disparities revealed by COVID-19 and new, young leaders elected to public office – like Mayor Lori Lightfoot – the stage was already set for innovation at the 26th annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDAs) last month. The CNDAs are known as the “Oscars” of neighborhood development and architectural design, with poignant presentations and acceptance speeches by activists, architects, bankers, developers, leaders of businesses and non-profits.

Because of social distancing required by the pandemic, this year’s CNDAs shifted to their first-ever online presentation over two nights. ABC7 Chicago’s Samantha Chatman and Val Warner respectively emceed the May 6 and 7 virtual events, which featured video scenes of the Chicago lakefront and riverfront interspersed with shout-outs by Mayor Lightfoot and by celebrities John Seda and LaRoyce Jenkins of Chicago P.D., Matt Walsh of Veep, Maxwell Jenkins of Netflix’s Lost in Space, former Chicago Bear Israel Idonije and musicians Jeff Tweedy and Common. There was also entertainment by local artists Ida y Vuelta, which fuses African, Spanish Arabic and Mexican indigenous music and poetry; by blues guitarist Toronzo Cannon; by ragtime pianist and MacArthur Award winner Reginald Robinson; by Young Chicago Authors winner E’mon Lauren, by Mikele Deville and by Jamal Oliver of Open the Circle.

But in between the Chicago-centric entertainment and the acceptance speeches, the screen kept returning to the theme, “Creating a Balanced City,” with emphasis on “growth,” “business,” “power,” “race,” “equity,” “jobs,” “integrity” and “access.” The CNDAs ask questions about equitable investment: how every neighborhood can have the necessary stores, public facilities and housing without pricing out long-time residents? and how the city work can together as a whole for both equity and global competitiveness?

“This year’s CNDA winners remind us that, when we strengthen one community – by creating integrative housing, improving healthcare or creating a new public space, we also strengthen the city as a whole,” LISC Chicago (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) officials noted in the program book.

Jewel-Osco in Woodlawn

In presenting the Outstanding For-Profit Real Estate Development Award to DL3 Realty and Terraco for the Jewel-Osco in Woodlawn, LISC National President Maurice Jones said, “if you are going to do community development and do it well, it’s a team effort. You need government, nonprofits, philanthropy and for-profits, all working together as a highfunctioning team to really pull off a transformative project.”

“You need a first mover in every market when you have a historically stagnant neighborhood,” DL3 Managing Partner Leon Walker said of the first full-service grocery store in Woodlawn in nearly 50 years. Walker also credited Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), which arrived in Woodlawn more than a decade ago and began to make vacant lots on Cottage Grove productive after years of population loss and real estate decline. The Jewel-Osco employs 300 people, 4 out of 5 of whom live in the neighborhood.

West Town Preservation Project

“When it comes to affordable rental housing, there is no more economically prudent and environmentally sound activity than housing preservation. When it is carried out in a changing community, there is also a critical element of social justice,” Polk Bros. Foundation CEO Gillian Darlow said in presenting the Polk Bros. Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award to Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation for its West Town Preservation Project: 318 units in 68 buildings in the three rapidly gentrifying communities of West Town, Humboldt Park and Logan Square. The award also recognizes the complex challenges of financing, owning and meeting government requirements to preserve affordability in a changing community, said Deborah Bennett, senior program officer.

Bickerdike CEO Joy Aruguete said that when the nonprofit started its work 53 years ago, no one was building in its communities. But by 2017, even before the 606 Trail opened, property values and real estate taxes had risen faster than in any other part of the city, forcing out lower income families. When its two for-profit partners wanted to get out of the deal (and build high-rises on the property), Bickerdike bought them out, recapitalized and rehabbed the buildings. Bickerdike has 650 units that are beyond year 15, but there are many more nonprofits with the same problem across Chicago and Illinois. “It is a problem we must all face together and find a solution before any badly needed affordable housing units are lost forever,” Aruguete said.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award winners for Architectural Excellence in Community Design must exhibit a creative design solution that could become a model for projects in other neighborhoods, among other criteria.

Independence Library & Apartments

James Florio

The first place Driehaus Award went to John Ronan Architects LLC for Independence Library & Apartments, 4024 N. Elston Ave., “a truly creative and attractive design that meets public and private needs and respects a public budget.” Ronan credited Mayor Rahm Emanuel for proposing the combination of library and affordable housing in a single structure. Ronan said he aligned the 16,000-square-foot library on the first two floors to the property line as he would for retail space, but he set back the upper four residential floors (44 one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors) and created a second floor park that could be used by both residents and library patrons. A design objective was to stress the individuality of residents in contrast to the “warehouse efforts” of Chicago’s past, he said. If they integrated affordable housing into the overall community, they would have accomplished their mission. Partners included Evergreen Real Estate Services, the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Housing Authority.

KLEO Art Residences

The second place Driehaus Award went to JGMA for the KLEO Art Residences, 5504 S. Michigan Ave., a dream of community activist Torrey Barnett, who founded a community center in memory of his sister and who wanted a home for artists and community residents. Mayor Emanuel introduced Barnett to Juan Moreno of JGMA, whose first-ever use of polycarbonate curtain walls in Chicago amplified natural lighting while saving on utility bills. The ground floor of the L-shaped building offers 5,000 square feet of rental space, community rooms and artist studios, with roll-up doors facing Michigan Avenue that let artists share their wares with the community. When the 58 rentals opened, there were more than 1000 applications from all areas of the city.

LaCasa Norte Foundation Center

The third place Driehaus Award went to Landon Bone Baker Architects for LaCasa Norte Foundation Center at 3533 W. North Ave. The ground floor features community facilities such as a food pantry and café, federally qualified health center and drop-in facility for youth experiencing homelessness. The second floor has La Casa Norte’s offices for administrators and social workers. Because the new building would be much taller than the 1930s-era buildings around it, architect Jeff Bone terraced floors three, four and five, which provide 25 one- and two-bedroom apartments for formerly homeless youth and their families. He also created an interior courtyard to bring in more light.

The Hatchery

The Hatchery

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Outstanding Non-profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project went to Accion Chicago and the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC) for The Hatchery at Lake Street and Kedzie Ave.

Accion and ICNC realized that just as Chicago was producing an ever-more-diverse and growing group of food entrepreneurs and aspiring chefs, there were few locations for them to cook or store food affordably. In The Hatchery, they sought to grow local food businesses, to help local producers sell food, to help adults find jobs in the food industry and young people careers as chefs. On the site of a former bakery, The Hatchery provides 54 private kitchens leasable by the year and six shared kitchen spaces available by the hour, as well as dry/ cold storage, loading docks and meeting space, workshops and education seminars that help entrepreneurs “grow in place.” Renowned Chicago chef Rick Bayless spearheaded its on-site culinary training program that places aspiring chefs in the best restaurants. “I’ve never seen a place where likeminded entrepreneurs can come together and thrive; that’s what The Hatchery provides,” he said.

Enlace Chicago

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBS) Healthy Community Award went to Enlace Chicago for Community Health Workers-Health Equity Initiative, “groundbreaking work to prevent chronic disease, promote access to care and healthy foods for residents of Little Village,” said Harmony Harrington, BCBS vice president of community relations. Enlace Executive Director Katya Nuques said that the nonprofit hired Community Health Workers who overcame two barriers, language and immigration, to connect virtually all Little Village residents to health insurance via the Affordable Care Act. With an 84 percent Latinx and 39 percent foreign-born population, Little Village previously had the lowest insured rates as well as childhood obesity and untreated mental health issues.

The Woods Fund Chicago Power of Community Award went to the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) and the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) for the Parent Engagement Institute.

In 1994, LSNA started first Parent Mentor Program, which was replicated by SWOP in 2004 in Chicago Lawn. In 2012, they jointly started the Parent Engagement Institute, which in its first year used $1 million in state funding to expand to 13 organizations in 62 schools, including 20 outside Chicago. There are now 1,150 mentors who spend two hours daily helping teachers in 148 schools across 23 school districts and 50 legislative districts.

Austin Quality of Life Plan

The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award went to Austin Coming Together for the Austin Quality of Life Plan. Executive Director Darnell Shields said the community started with a summit of 300 individuals – parents, small business owners, government officials – discussing the transformation they wanted to see. Their first initiative was helping Michele Clark High School offer the first International Baccalaureate on the West Side. They have since embarked on a two-year process involving 500 stakeholders around seven areas they see as impediments to success. The group has attracted $14 million investment and its Aspire Initiative, intended to build a stronger cradle to career pipeline, is a semifinalist for the $10 million Pritzker Prize.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Creative Placemaking Award went to the El Paseo Community Garden. Local residents Paula and Antonio Acevedo planted raised beds on the former industrial site on Sangamon between Cullerton and 21st Street, and the Environmental Protection Agency removed contaminated soil. Now the garden yields vegetables, flowers, peaches, grapes, and features an herb spiral. Its outdoor space offers weekly programming in yoga, meditation, kids’ gardening, and space for community potlucks where old and young share stories. The most recent addition is a mural that shows Pilsen history and Latinx culture.

Marca Bristo

The Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award went to Marca Bristo, who died last September. A registered nurse, she became disabled as a result of a diving accident at age 23 and soon afterward became president of Access Living, which over three decades won landmark lawsuits to enforce the civil rights of people with disabilities, such as wheelchair accessibility to Chicago transportation. Bristo also helped draft and pass the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Amendments of 1988.

As president of the U.S. International Council on Disabilities, she worked for the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the U.S. Senate has twice refused to ratify, apart from 180 other nations, despite President Obama’s signature.

Sitting at the bottom of her stairs soon after she became disabled, Bristo realized accessible housing was her greatest barrier, said her husband, Bob Kettlewell. Today she would be in the same fix because the City of Chicago has failed to meet its obligation for 5 percent affordable, accessible housing. “The costs are marginal. All it takes is people caring enough to get it done,” Kettlewell said.

The CIBC Norman Bobins Emerging Leader Award went to Deon Lucas. Lucas studied drafting at the West Side’s Westinghouse High School all four years and his teachers persuaded him to go to college rather than the Marine Corps. Lucas received an undergraduate degree in architecture and an MBA, spent years in a leading design firm and as a sole practitioner and then came to Englewood, where he created Beehyyve, a collaborative of independent architects, designers, engineers and contractors who can join forces to bid on government or large private-sector projects. More recently, he started E.G. Woode, an incubator that reinvests profits into new minority businesses in Englewood.