Chicago will support new development at the Kedzie Green Line station with land sale

The Chicago Department of Planning & Development published a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) regarding the eventual development of land the city currently owns next to the Kedzie Green Line station.

The Kedzie station, above Lake Street, is in the East Garfield Park community area, next to The Hatchery, a shared commercial kitchen and food business incubator where the Garfield Park Community Council hosts farmers markets.

This is not an RFP; the planning department is only soliciting interest from developers and architects who would eventually like to be invited to be part of a team that executes a development here. Specifically, the RFQ states:

[t]he City is seeking to prequalify a limited number of Respondent Developers and Architects based on their financial capacity, relevant experience and demonstrated ability to complete a development of similar scale and scope. Shortlisted Respondents will be invited to form Developer-Design Teams, to present themselves to the community and, upon selection, to create a vision of the Site and a near-term plan to execute vertical development.

The selected Developer-Design Team will implement a vision that best meets the City’s development objectives for the Site, as outlined in Section 3 of this RFQ. Responsibilities of the Developer-Design Team will include site planning, architectural design, securing entitlements, attracting anchor tenant(s), environmental remediation, and marketing properties to potential users. The selected Developer-Design Team will be expected to initiate vertical development in 2023.

The selection of a Developer and Architect for the East Garfield Park, Lake & Kedzie Site(s) will occur in two steps; a Request for Qualifications from Developers and Architects followed by a Developer-Design Team formation and public presentation period.

Something I really like in this RFQ is the city plainly stating a zoning district it would support rezoning to: “the City is willing to support a unified B3–3 zoning designation to guide future development.”

Granted, any rezoning would require the support of the local alderperson and these parcels have two. The majority of the land area, Sites 2 and 3, is in the 28th Ward, west of Kedzie Avenue, and the other portion, containing Site 1, is in the 27th Ward, east of Kedzie Avenue.

The City of Chicago has three other RFQs and RFPs open at the moment:

• RFP for Belmont Triangle redevelopment of nearly four acres nestled among Pulaski, Milwaukee, and Belmont Avenues (due 10/21/22).
• RFP for 1769 W Pershing Rd, a City-owned building with 571,476 s.f. of floor area (due 10/21/22).
• RFQ for two City-owned lots on the southern corners of 63rd Street and Ellis Avenue in Woodlawn (due 9/14/22, same as Lake/Kedzie).

Tools for Cityscape members

Chicago Cityscape members who want to review these parcels prior to responding to the RFQ should use two maps we’ve set up:

• Place Snapshot, in which to use Property Finder that will show just the 11 parcels included in the RFQ.
• List, to quickly see the PINs of each of the 11 parcels included in the RFQ

The links in either the Place Snapshot > Property Finder or the list will lead to individual Address Snapshot reports for each of the parcels.

Contact us if you would like to try out “Super Parcel”, a feature in beta that allows you to combine existing parcels into a proposed larger parcel. This way Chicago Cityscape can calculate the zoning assessment and present our other tools based on a future condition.

Future development objectives

Carefully read the City’s stated redevelopment ideas, starting on page 14:

• Create a well-integrated mixed-use development that enhances the vibrancy of the Garfield Park community.
• Implement Equitable Transit-Oriented development principles that enables all people regardless of income, race, ethnicity, age, gender, immigration status or ability to experience the benefits of dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development near transit hubs.
• Expand retail, dining, and neighborhood amenities to promote the concept of a complete neighborhood in Garfield Park where residents can access most of their basic, day-to-day needs within a 15-minute walk of their homes.
• Promote design excellence to ensure development is consistent with the unique context of neighborhood, corridors, and blocks. Design excellence is achieved through the adherence to the principles of equity and inclusion, innovation, sense of place, sustainability, and communication.

All parcels are in one of two TIF districts (Site 1 is in Kinzie Industrial Corridor and Sites 2 and 3 are in Midwest). The RFQ doesn’t specify the city’s willingness to subsidize the development but respondents should address their vision’s potential need for use of TIF or other funds.

Submitting your qualifications

Prior to submitting your qualifications to the City, understand what the process will be, starting on page 19.

The submission package details are described starting on page 23; it requires an organizational chart, a portfolio of relevant and completed projects, financial information, references, and a vision for the redevelopment of Site 1 (the parcels northeast of the station).

Submissions are due 4 PM on September 14, 2022.

Chicago will support new development at the Kedzie Green Line station with land sale was originally published in Chicago Cityscape’s Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.