9100 S. Burley Apartments celebrates grand opening, 10th Ward Green Summit
The 6th annual 10th Ward Green Summit kicked-off last Friday, April 26 at the Claretian Associates’ newest green apartment building at 9100 S. Burley Avenue. LBBA’s Jeff Bone and Claudia Rodriguez joined over 65 supporters for the ribbon-cutting, dedication, and tours.
The seven 2- and 3-bedroom affordable apartments at 9100 S. Burley were developed through the City of Chicago’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program and achieve 3-stars on the Chicago Green Homes’ Multi-Family Renovation Checklist. Green features include a high solar reflectance index roof, advanced air sealing and insulation, and high performance windows, as well as the infrastructure for future solar thermal panel installation for the hot water system. Recycled content materials and low VOC paints, coatings, primers, adhesives, and sealers also contribute to healthy living environments and the building sustainability. In addition, the development will offer a fully accessible apartment complying with Federal Section 504 guidelines.
Progress on Legends South C-3, CHA’s Plan Forward
Construction documents are nearing completion for the third off-site phase of Legends South, a mixed-income development that replaced the Robert Taylor Homes – formerly the world’s largest public housing development.
Legends South is one of the City of Chicago’s most ambitious efforts to revitalize public housing that, once completed, will include 2,400 mixed income rental and affordable homeownership units. Under the Chicago Housing Authority’s “Plan for Transformation,” Landon Bone Baker previously completed Hansberry Square (Phase A-1) and Savoy Square (Phase A-2). These initial phases reconnected the formerly isolated super block high-rise site to the street grid by adding new streets, scaling the blocks for more comfortable walking distances, and establishing a variety of public, semi-public, and private courtyard spaces. Earlier this month, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the CHA visited Legends South to reveal “Plan Forward,” the second phase of the original program.
Phase C-3 is located between E. 43rd Street and E. 46th Street, and between the CTA Green Line and S. Wabash Avenue, in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. The project’s 14 buildings and 71 rental units are comprised mainly of 3-flat, 5-flat, and 6-flat buildings on currently vacant lots. The development also includes two buildings with ground floor commercial space on 43rd Street. Landon Bone Baker and Johnson & Lee Architects are the design team for Phase C-3.
Catherine Baker to participate on Healthy Communities panel at Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and the Illinois Housing Council (IHC) are co-hosting the 2013 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing on Tuesday, April 23rd and Wednesday, April 24th at the UIC Forum in Chicago. The conference includes keynote events and over 20 panels across six concurrent sessions. Each session will address financing, asset and property management, policy, special needs housing, and green topics.
During the final session on April 24, LBBA’s Catherine Baker will join Joe Neri, IFF, Mike Goetz, Laborer’s Homes Development Corporation, and Stacy Ignoffo, Chicago Asthma Consortium to discuss the link between community design and the health of residents. The Healthy Communities panel will be moderated by Curt Winkle, Head and Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Policy, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Registration for the two-day event is still open.
Mayor Emanuel Celebrates Ribbon Cutting of Harvest Commons Apartments as Part of Eisenhower Corridor ‘Neighborhoods Now’ Developments
Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Near West Side community leaders and site developers today for the formal re-opening of the $22.3 million Harvest Commons Apartments, a designated City landmark that was converted into 89 low-income studios with on-site social services. Harvest Commons Apartments, formerly known as the Viceroy Hotel, was redeveloped during the last year by Heartland Housing in conjunction with Landon Bone Baker Architects, First Baptist Congregational Church, and St. Leonard’s Ministries. The project is part of Mayor Emanuel’s “Chicago Neighborhoods Now” initiative, which is coordinating $2.9 billion in new economic development, housing, and quality of life improvements in seven opportunity-rich sections of Chicago.
The Mayor’s remarks focused on the historic and green rehabilitation at Harvest Commons, as well as affordable housing and further development on in the Near West Side neighborhood. “Chicago’s neighborhoods are its backbone, and this affordable apartment project will allow those who love their community to stay in their community with affordable housing options and social services,” Mayor Emanuel said. “I will continue to work with community and private partners in the Eisenhower Corridor and throughout the city’s neighborhoods as we are all invested together in these projects that will allow a better quality of life for Chicagoans and their families.”
Read the full Press Release here.
A Converge Exchange Event: Community Tools for Affordable Housing
What is affordable housing? When we look at affordability and examine the many options about location, size, cost, and nearness to schools and other amenities, we need to first ask the question affordable to whom?
To help community organizations, advocacy groups, and policy experts educate their constituents on neighborhood development issues, the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) developed the Affordable Housing Toolkit. The kit is an interactive workshop tool with activities that break down affordable housing policy into easy-to-understand visuals. Look at income demographics, rents, and proposed developments in your neighborhood. Learn about affordable housing programs and whoʼs eligible for them.
Now CUP is working to adapt the NYC toolkit for the specific needs that concern Chicago’s affordable housing organizers, advocates, builders, and others interested in the issue. The Affordable Housing Toolkit is the centerpiece of Converge Exchange: Community Tools for Affordable Housing on Thursday, April 11. The half-day workshop and panel discussion will provide an in-depth look into a variety of strategies for increasing the availability of affordable housing in communities. LBBA’s Catherine Baker will join the panel to discuss the tools to produce attractive and appropriately priced housing that benefit both residents and the broader community .
A Converge Exchange Event: Community Tools for Affordable Housing
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Archeworks, 625 North Kingsbury, Chicago
Schedule:
2:30 pm Gather at Archeworks, 625 North Kingsbury, Chicago2:45-5:00 pm Affordable Housing Toolkit Workshop Presented by Christine Gaspar, Center for Urban Pedagogy, NY
(RSVP required: Monica@convergexchange.org)5:00-5:45 pm Networking and light snacks
6:00-7:30 pm Community Tools for Affordable Housing Discussion Panel
(Free and open to the public)
Participants:
Christine Gaspar, Executive Director, Center for Urban Pedagogy, NYJanet Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Co-Director of Voorhees Center, UIC, Chicago
Andrew Geer, VP and Chicago Market Leader, Enterprise Community Partners
Catherine Baker, Principal, Landon Bone Baker
Eithne McMenamin, MSW, Associate Director for City Affairs, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
The event is jointly presented by The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), Converge:Exchange (C:E), Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF), and Archeworks with generous funding provided by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
Pete Landon and Catherine Baker to Present During Behind-the-Scenes Tour with the National Public Housing Museum
LBBA’s Pete Landon and Catherine Baker will present the National Public Housing Museum during a day-long “mobile symposium” on Saturday, March 23 that explores a past, present, and future look at the topic of “shelter” through public housing in Chicago. “Architecture is Activism… Shelter!” features a special tour of the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, a drive-by discussion (and short walk) of the historic architecture and landscape of Julia Lathrop Homes, a look at the Henry Horner Homes site and discussion of the plan for its redevelopment as West Haven, and a drive-by of one of the first public housing structures in Chicago, 1322 Taylor Street, The Jane Addams Homes, which is the future home of the National Public Housing Museum.
Featured speakers also include Bradford Hunt, Associate Professor of Social Science and History, Roosevelt University; Keith Magee, Executive Director National Public Housing Museum; and Crystal Palmer, West Haven Resident and Board Member of National Public Housing Museum. Chicago Architecture Foundation docent Tom Drebenstedt will serve as bus “emcee” to share architectural context along the route. Program includes a box lunch and space is limited to 50 participants.
To register for the Behind-the-Scenes Tour with the National Public Housing Museum, please visit the official event website.
Chicken Coop Research for the Viceroy SRO
LBBA is working with Heartland Housing to develop a chicken coop scheme for the garden at the Viceroy SRO. As part of the project’s urban agriculture and resident engagement program, Heartland would like to raise 8-20 hens on site for egg production and farm-to-table training. We met with Jennifer Murtoff, urban chicken consultant, to explore both the program opportunities and the hazards in translating this enterprise to the city. Jennifer introduced us to three Chicago families operating backyard coops, and we learned that chickens on an urban farm are vulnerable to heavy north winds and predators like hawks, raccoons, and rats. Chickens also provide natural pest control and a hearty compost. At the Viceroy SRO, the urban farming principles will be an integral part of resident education in nutrition and food preparation, and we hope to see this program complement the project’s new green building features and encourage healthy lifestyles.
LBBA Hosts IIT Boeing Scholars on Second Annual Job Shadow Day
Yesterday, LBBA hosted four high school students for the second annual Job Shadow Day. Organized by the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy, Job Shadow Day is a structured work site experience which helps the IIT Boeing Scholars–a diverse group of high-achieving Chicago-area high school students–identify possible career interests. Serena Brewer (Oak Park & River Forest HS), Layalee Elzahdan (Aqsa School), Adam Glueckert (Lane Tech HS), and Andre Vega (Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy) each chose to visit LBBA and explore a career in architecture. To experience the profession, LBBA’s Victor Jimenez, Terran Wilson, and Louis Fernandez led the group in an office tour, sketch and model making activities, and an open discussion to answer questions regarding college and an architect’s typical day.
LBBA submits Sustainability Action Plan
After signing on to the AIA 2030 Commitment program in 2011, LBBA extended its focus beyond more energy-efficient building designs to address firm culture. The AIA program asks firms to take a leadership role in operational improvements and project design by reducing energy consumption in the built environment through design innovation, education, and promotion of new technologies and solutions. To align our work with the 2030 Challenge, LBBA developed a long range Sustainability Action Plan that addresses our approach to firm operations, staff training and education, resources, design, and evaluation. Check out all the firms that have adopted the AIA 2030 Commitment and actions they have undertaken to reduce the energy consumption in the built environment.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of the AIA 2030 Commitment is the pledge to measure and report annual progress of a firm’s design portfolio towards the 2030 goals, and as more firms report their findings, a body of shared knowledge has begun to emerge. In conjunction with AIA National, AIA Chicago COTE is collecting data from volunteering Chicago area firms to show how our region is leading the country in designing to match the goals of the AIA 2030 Commitment.
If you have questions regarding the Reporting Tool, join the AIA 2030 Commitment Working Group for a hands-on workshop tomorrow, Tuesday, February 5, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at AIA Chicago. Reporting is due at the end of March 2013!
Can $86 Million Save a Neighborhood?
Fifteen years ago, Lands’ End founder Gary Comer embarked on a wildly ambitious project to improve the struggling South Side neighborhood where he grew up. His campaign to revitalize Pocket Town in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing addressed the interconnected problem facing the community’s residents: poorly performing schools, as well as issues like substandard housing and inadequate health care. The Comer Science and Education Foundation would eventually found a charter high school, youth center, health care system and affordable home project, and play a part in a new library.
The big question: What results has that huge investment yielded? And what lessons are there for policymakers, philanthropists, and everyone who cares about the fate of struggling urban neighborhoods? Read the full profile in Chicago Magazine.