542 W. Elm scores full building permit

A full building permit has been issued for affordable housing at 542 W. Elm. Located at the corner of W. Elm St and N. Larrabee St, the new housing will occupy a vacant lot left in the larger site for the Parkside of Old Town development. Working for the Chicago Housing Authority, developers Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation and Cabrini Green LAC Community Development Corporation are collaborating on the project. 

With LBBA Architects in charge of the design, this new phase will only include one small building. Rising three floors, the walkup building will stand 42 feet tall and hold six three-bedroom apartments. Designed with a precast concrete structure, the exterior will relate to previous phases of the development and use an assortment of colors painted onto the concrete.

Parking for the building will include 12 spaces added to existing surface parking for the building to the north, using the same curb cut off N. Larrabee St. Along N. Cambridge Ave, this phase will also see the construction of a new dog park and play lot for kids from the neighborhood. 

With the permit issued, general contractor GMA Construction Group can begin construction and work through completion. When the project was approved by City Council in January 2023, the developers expected construction to begin in June 2023 with completion set for December 2024. Now with permits just issued that timeline will likley move back roughly a year.