Construction has begun on Southbridge 1C, a 12-story mixed-income project at the former Harold Ickes Homes site in Chicago’s South Loop, with 80 apartments and ground-floor retail.
Construction is underway on the next phase of Southbridge, a mixed-income redevelopment at the former Harold Ickes Homes site in Chicago’s South Loop.
The focus keyphrase—“Southbridge 1C”—is now taking shape at 2305 S.. State St., where developers broke ground Monday on Southbridge 1C, the third building in the master-planned project.. The 12-story structure will add 80 apartments and about 1,500 square feet of ground-floor retail, with completion targeted for June 2027.. For residents and neighbors. the project represents more than new housing construction; it’s the continuation of a long-running shift from traditional public housing footprints toward mixed-income. transit-connected neighborhoods.
The Community Builders. joined by city officials and project partners. said the Southbridge development is designed to connect residents to the everyday life of the South Loop—job centers. schools. parks. and nearby retail.. The site sits adjacent to the Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line stop. a detail local leaders emphasized as key to the project’s broader “live. work and play” aims.. The South Loop location also places Southbridge near other major neighborhoods. including Bronzeville and Chinatown. positioning the development as a bridge between communities rather than an isolated enclave.
This latest phase follows completion of the first two Southbridge buildings in 2021.. Funding for the fourth phase has already been secured, with city and developer leaders indicating it will also include 80 units.. Taken together. the timeline suggests the city and its housing partners are treating the South Loop redevelopment as a multi-year neighborhood transformation rather than a one-off project.. The scale has already grown: when fully complete. Southbridge is expected to include more than 800 mixed-income housing units and about 65. 000 square feet of commercial and community space. compared with just over 200 total units today.
For affordability and resident protections, the project’s unit mix is central.. The building will offer studios and apartments up to two bedrooms. along with amenities intended to meet everyday needs—such as in-unit laundry and quartz countertops.. Of the 80 apartments, 44 are planned to be affordable to households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income.. Another 29 units are designated for Chicago Housing Authority households with a “right of return. ” a policy commitment that matters to families who lived in the original public housing complex and may be navigating housing stability. relocation. and long-term access to affordability.
The city’s approach also leans on transit and neighborhood design as practical housing policy.. Mayor Brandon Johnson framed the project as a move away from an “office monolith” way of thinking about large sites in the Loop area—describing a goal of turning the area into something that stays active beyond the weekday workday.. Ald.. Pat Dowell. in praising the project. pointed to what he called a “trifecta” of elements that can make an urban community viable: affordable units. retail. and proximity to transit. with added benefits from nearby open space and access to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
What will stand out for future residents are the building’s shared amenities and services.. The project plans include a rooftop lounge. a dog wash. resident storage. and a gym—features often associated with market-rate developments. now being incorporated into a mixed-income model.. Apartments will also offer views of downtown. an aesthetic detail that may signal how Southbridge is positioning the redevelopment: not simply as replacement housing. but as a long-term place to settle.
Funding for the third phase includes $11.9 million in tax increment financing approved by the City Council in July 2025. alongside a $10 million contribution from the Chicago Housing Authority.. That blend of public and public-adjacent financing underscores a broader national pattern in urban housing redevelopment: cities increasingly rely on multiple funding streams to meet affordability targets while still financing modern construction standards and amenities.
The Monday groundbreaking carried additional political and institutional weight.. CHA CEO Keith Pettigrew. who began his four-year term last week. attended the event and said Southbridge fits the future he wants for the agency and the city.. Pettigrew highlighted the effort as sustainable and designed for mixed-income. mixed-use living—an approach that. if it delivers on expectations. could become a template for how public housing authorities manage redevelopment risk while pursuing long-term affordability.
As Southbridge 1C moves from dirt work to steel and interior buildout. its success will likely be measured in the details that follow: whether right-of-return commitments remain workable for displaced households. whether retail space supports daily needs rather than empty storefronts. and whether the mixed-income mix sustains social cohesion over time.. If those pieces land. the Harold Ickes Homes site could serve as a visible example of how major redevelopment can keep affordability at the center while reshaping the surrounding neighborhood fabric—one building at a time.