On November 19th, Alderwoman Hadden and the 49th Ward Office hosted a community meeting regarding a proposed development for the property located at 7644 N. Sheridan.  You can watch a recording of the community meeting here. To view the presentation slides, please click here.

The applicant, 5T Management, plans to build a five-story, mixed-use building containing 44 residential units and ground-floor commercial space. The unit breakdown includes 4 one-bedroom units, 28 two-bedroom units, and 12 three-bedroom units. All units will remain affordable, with three units set aside for households earning 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), twenty-four set aside for households earning 60% AMI, and the remaining (seventeen units) for households earning 80% AMI. 5T will use Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) issued by the Department of Housing to finance the building, locking in its affordability for a minimum of 30 years. 

In its 2024 Reassessment Report, the Cook County Assessor provided data on real estate trends over the past half-decade across the city, leading to increased property values in many of Chicago's 77 neighborhoods, including Rogers Park. In Rogers Park, the average single-family home prices rose by 13% since 2020, condo prices by 33%, and multi-family unit prices by 18%.

These increases are passed on to tenants in rental units, who have seen rent spikes since 2020. In 2020, the average one-bedroom apartment in Chicago cost a tenant $1,948/month. In 2025, a one-bedroom apartment costs a tenant an average of $2,357/month. The median household income for Chicago from 2019 to 2025 is $75,134. For the Rogers Park community, however, the median household income from 2019 to 2025 is significantly lower than the Chicagoland average, at just $58,876. This means that wages are not keeping up with the cost of living, leading to an increase in households that are rent-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. This has contributed to Chicago's growing affordable housing crisis, with more than 100,000 fewer affordable units than households in need of affordable housing. 

The proposal also includes 13 parking spaces and 50 bike parking spaces. The site is considered a transit-oriented development given its proximity to major transit hubs, including the Howard L station, and just steps from the Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express 147 bus. Additionally, as part of the tax credit negotiations with the Department of Housing, the developer was asked to reduce the typical number of parking spaces required for a TOD site to increase the number of affordable units.  

The proposal does not trigger a zoning change, meaning the builder plans to develop the site by-right within the allowances of its B3-5 zoning designation. The site was previously a Planned Development (PD) under the previous owner. However, the PD sunset in 2011. Typically, when a PD sunsets, it reverts to its underlying zoning, which was B3-5 for this parcel. With her commitment to community-driven processes and transparency, however, Alderwoman Hadden still had the site go through the zoning change process after entering office in 2019. At the time, we had a troubled landlord who allowed the building to deteriorate and remain vacant for several years. Through our community engagement process, neighbors were given three zoning designations to weigh in on. The community was eager to see the property change ownership and believed that reverting it to its original B3-5 zoning designation would make it more attractive to a potential buyer. 

While the property does not trigger a zoning change, it must go through the Lakefront Protection Review process due to its proximity to Lake Michigan. The Chicago Plan Commission will review the developer's submission and either approve or deny the plans. If approved, the item will go before the full City Council for a final vote. The developers anticipate submitting their Lakefront Protection Review in January 2026.

5T Management and Alderwoman Hadden would like to hear from you. Please take a moment to complete the community survey, available here. The survey will remain open until December 7th at midnight.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Infrastructure and Communications Coordinator, Zach Joseph, at zach@49thward.org, or call our office at 773-338-5796.