The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) hosted a public review on May 18, 2021, of the three developer responses to the INVEST South/West Request for Proposals (RFP) in Bronzeville. The following is a select list of public questions from the event and answers.

Some of the questions have been combined or edited for the sake of brevity or clarity. Additional questions can always be directed to DPD staff at dpd@cityofchicago.org.

General Questions

The questions in this section were reviewed and answered by DPD staff.

Are there additional opportunities for the community to provide feedback on the development proposals?

Bronzeville stakeholders can provide feedback on each of the three development proposals received by completing a Bronzeville Community Scorecard. The results of this scorecard will help inform the evaluation committee as each proposal is evaluated and the winning proposal is selected. The Community Scorecard will be open until Friday, June 18, 2021.

Can those who did not attend the developer presentations still provide feedback on the proposals?

Yes, people who were not able to attend the developer presentations live on May 26 are still able to provide feedback. The INVEST South/West team asks that you watch the developer presentation in its entirety on DPD’s YouTube Page before submitting a community scorecard. Additionally, residents are encouraged to review each of the developer video submissions prior to completing the scorecard.

The Legacy District

The questions in this section were reviewed and answered by members of The Legacy District team. The team’s pitch video is also available for review.

How can we expect to see arts and economic development integration?

The team has a tenant that is an artist that will run a program called “Artist’s Life.” Artist’s Life teaches artists how to be entrepreneurs. A lot of artists just love the craft, but are not thinking about the business side. This program by Griffin Gallery called artistlife.org will show artists how to monetize their skills.

Is LG acting as the developer and general contractor for this project?

Yes, LG is acting as the developer and contractor for this project. The team is doing a mentor-mentee relationship. LG is acting as the developer to help structure the finance and bring its resources because LG has done countless projects over the years within the city. KMW Communities has a strong presence on the South Side and with their construction experience, they will be acting as a general contractor to ensure that the project is successful financially by having enough resources and enough boots on the ground.

What are the MBE/WBE participation goals and will there be an effort to hire local contractors from the neighborhood?

The goal is to far exceed the 26%/ 6% city requirement. Based on the team make up, they are 50% MBE/WBE participation. The team will have a consultant to help with its outreach, in addition to community resources such as QCDC and the alderman’s office to get a robust awareness out to the community to get contractors and community members ready for the opportunity. Workforce partners will also assist in these efforts.

Is there a larger plan for 47th Street, and if so, how does the Legacy District fit in to this?

The Legacy District Team, as outlined in the video presentation, studied several city and private owned vacant parcels within a three-block radius. The team would be interested in further acquisition of these properties for both rental and for sale housing with commercial and businesses at grade. One particular parcel the team is actively pursuing at 436 E. 47th St. is suitable for 40 to 50 residential units and 14,000 square feet of commercial. This site will augment the Legacy District, which would develop synergy around food, art and culture that builds up the cultural experiences of visitors and residents throughout the corridor.

How does the site accommodate cross generation needs from early childhood and elementary school students to young adults, families and seniors?

Homeownership is the foundation for intergenerational wealth creation, coupled with the entrepreneurship model. The Legacy District team believes that reducing the barriers to ownership provides opportunity for families to improve the quality of life for family members for generations to come. In addition, the tenant selection and the building structure encourages interaction and accommodation for all ages. The building units are designed for growing families with amenities and open green spaces for gathering that allows for younger families to stay in the community while building equity as a homeowner.

The building will be constructed according to ADA standards for accommodation for seniors and people with disabilities. The homeownership community will be intergenerational, that allows the interaction between children and the elderly.  The average unit size is 1,600 square feet, which was designed for intergenerational living. The Griffin Gallery will run a program, artistlife.org, which provide crafts and entrepreneurship classes for children and young and adult artist.

Can you elaborate on the services and resources that will be available in the Women of Color Entrepreneur Accelerator?

The Women of Color (WoC) Accelerator is a nine-week program, in partnership with DePaul University's Women in Entrepreneurship Program, for WoC businesses with annual revenues between $250,000 and $500,000. The founders in the cohort matriculate through an intensive look into their financial structure, operations and marketing strategies led by other high revenue earning female founders who act as business coaches, mentors and potential funders. The purpose of this accelerator is to assist the businesswomen in scaling their business operations to attract and attain significant capital investments, which prepares them for a liquidity event or the sale of their businesses.

This accelerator focuses on later-stage businesses who have been in business for two to five years, and are able to demonstrate sustainable business models with growth potential. In addition to the accelerator, the YWCA houses an small business development center that will also offer business services, including technical assistance, one-on-one counseling and access to government resources, capital and certification assistance.

The Village

The questions in this section were reviewed and answered by members of The Village team. The team’s pitch video is also available for review.

How does your proposal support small, local entrepreneurs and not just large chain retailers?

There are several local entrepreneurs that have signed letters of commitment to be a part of the project. This community presentation is the first step in the process. The team will take its cues from the community, and will go in and learn who the local entrepreneurs are. Everything the team does is community focused, and they will make sure that the community provides insight into who they want to be involved in the process.

The national brands were brought in to offset the costs for the small businesses. The brands that will be there will have a community and mission focus, with an incubator attached that will give back or train the next generation of black entrepreneurs. The team utilized the Next-Door app to reach out to the community to ask them what they needed and wanted to see in their community. From that outreach, the team was able to connect a local daycare to the local non-profit and bring on a local business as a potential tenant. The team took multiple approaches to get the local black owned businesses aware of and prepared to be in this development.

What is the project cost and how will it be financed?

The project will cost around $50 million. It will be financed through traditional construction financing, the plan is to put a first mortgage on the retail space, TIF assistance and then developer equity.

The size of the development will have an impact on parking and traffic in the area. How will you address this?

This project will have to go through an engineering model to determine how we will need to ease traffic to ensure safety for pedestrians. The team will produce these models well in advance of planning the project.

Please explain how this design works with the context of the historic Bronzeville neighborhood, including but not limited to the Harold Washington Cultural Center next door.

The thought behind the design was to honor the historic arts and culture of the neighborhood by leaving this blank canvas in the middle, to which local artist get to showcase their work on a continuous basis. Architecture is an art form that embraces innovation which is intertwined with Bronzeville’s artistic history.

Additionally, the team added a functional greenspace option for community engagement and fun for all ages, so the building would stand out as an iconic statement and a must-see space and place, similar to what was in this space around the corner decades before, the Regal Theater.

The team wants to have people from other areas, states, and countries, to look up Chicago and have Bronzeville’s The Village be one of the go to places to visit and see architecturally, culturally, and hopefully in the future historically. The team references trolley tours and entertainment districts, and culture food destinations, because the team wants Bronzeville to be on that map, with local businesses at the forefront, which requires outside-of-the-box thinking.

As discussed, the team is open to adjustments to further the design and make nods to history with material, and style to tie it into the neighborhood as collaborators with the neighborhood.

What does IHOP mean for nearby restaurant businesses, and can its hours be adjusted to mitigate impact on the surrounding neighborhood in the evening and late night?

As outlined in the Request for Proposal, and in the team’s community engagement conversations, the neighborhood seeks more dining options, more retail, and more services. The team chose IHOP because they wanted to come in with a mission-based company and not-for-profit to help add training and job opportunities. With the mission to “give instead of take” from the community, the team believes the development will help grow the surrounding businesses and help new businesses crop up to make the neighborhood more populated with thriving new retail and mark it as a destination.

Businesses such as Peach's, for example, will benefit as new customers come to visit the site, because the increased foot traffic will drive awareness to other neighborhood staples, and will then, in turn, create more of an atmosphere to convert those people to visit those other surrounding business such as the arts and business center. Additionally, IHOP serves to lower the barrier of entry for minority owned businesses by taking on a larger share of the rental cost for the building, so costs are lower and more affordable for smaller local shops.

Regarding hours of operation, this topic has been discussed with groups like QCDC, and one way is to have businesses with varying hours so that foot traffic is continuous, keeping the site active with paying customers and shifting away from vacant lots.

Can you speak more on the decision to step the ground-floor retail space back into the lot, rather than engaging the streetscape?

The team wanted to create an area of open gathering and event space which will also drive foot-traffic to the retail shops. Most successful revitalizations that do not result in gentrification involve events that create transient foot-traffic and spending that does not live nearby but infuses the local economy with more money. The team wanted to make sure that there is a space for cultural programming and pop-up events for the community and visitors, giving local business owners a chance to test their business in the market and get exposure and a platform.

Having an open, inviting green space invites walkers to come sit and spend time there has been proven globally. This space will connect to the streetscape with outdoor dining, added bike sharing stations, the bus stop, and invite casual walkers to come and spend time and money to uplift the 14-plus businesses the team seeks to bring. The team wants to honor the history of this corridor’s past, where you went to "see and be seen" by creating a similarly buzzing, vibrant outdoor social and event space for the community. This should feel like the neighborhood's family room.

47th/Vincennes Partnership

The questions in this section were reviewed and answered by members of 47th/Vincennes team. The team’s pitch video is also available for review.

Can you explain the design of the corner of the building on the RFP site and any landscape architecture treatments to the building?

The corner of the building will be primarily translucent with glass so that you will be able to view the activity that will be taking place in the building during the day and even more so in the evening hours. The idea is that you will have a vibrant and active space in a controlled environment.

The team has also introduced an atrium space toward the center of the building. The intent is that the atrium will have trees and landscaping within the space so that you will have access to an outdoor space indoors during the winter months. In addition, there will be a green roof above the anchor tenant space which will take up one-third of the footprint of the building. That will be activated and landscaped as well.

How will the arts be integrated in the development?

The Gallery Guichard currently employs residents of the Bronzeville Artists Lofts in several capacities, so the team is looking at a similar concept where residents of the new RFP site will be employed at the development. The team wants to make sure the arts are a part of the development. So, by having art related businesses, like art and music schools, and expanding public art in the corridor like murals, the team is keeping the synergies between the arts and retail uses and the colorful landscape on the corridor.

Can you speak to your experience with micro loans to support small businesses?

CNI Micro finance groups focus is to deploy loans to small business to address barriers such as access to capital. The team has currently deployed over $4 million in loans to small businesses, of which 80 percent of that has been to African American business. So CNI is intentional about bridging gaps, creating resources, and removing barriers for entrepreneurs.

This speaks directly to the wealth building competent of the RFP. The team wants to make sure its businesses are thriving, not just surviving. In addition to businesses capital, the team wants to provide technical assistance and capacity building support to this new development.

How will parking be addressed for the commercial spaces and residents of the development?

Each building provides off-street parking spaces. The main building at 4715-23 S. Vincennes provides 30 parking spaces dedicated to retail and 15 parking spaces dedicated to the residential tenants. Building B provides another 14 parking spaces for residents and businesses, and Building C provides 12 additional parking spaces in addition to a loading dock.

In this country owning a home is the best way to build intergenerational wealth. How does your proposal address the financial hurdles and other kinds of barriers blocking Black and Brown people in this country from owning homes?

In addition to providing 16 for-sale condominiums in Buildings B and C combined, the proposal proposes 30 rental apartments that will have a rent-to-own component for current renters to move into homeownership in the future in place. The team partnered with the Chicago Urban League to initiate “Programming for resident housing and financial empowerment” to better assist future homeowners in establishing financial preparedness to growth family wealth. The team also entrusted its non-profit development partner to collaborate with the Urban League in creating a rent-to-own program, so that the 30 rental units will become condominium ownership opportunities for local residents. These two groups have successfully run similar programs in past neighborhood developments in Chicago.

Will the proposed buildings be developed simultaneously or in phases?

The proposal calls for all three buildings to be built simultaneously. The funding is for the entire project, and the team is committed to building all buildings as one development. The team believes that in order to garner significant development impact and retail attraction to the project, the entire block should be developed as one large project.