CDC approves $30 million in TIF for 1769 W. Pershing redevelopment

The Community Development Commission has approved $30.175 million in TIF as well as a land sale for the mixed-use redevelopment at 1769 W. Pershing. Planned by IBT Group LLC, the project was selected as the winner of a Chicago Department of Planning and Development RFP to redevelop the historic city-owned property in McKinley Park. 

Situated within McKinley Park, the vacant 571,000-square-foot warehouse, known as the Quartermaster Depot, was built in 1918 for the U.S. Army. The six-story structure, featuring 90,000-square-foot floor plates and located within McKinley Park’s Central Manufacturing District complex, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project includes 1717 W. Pershing next door, which is a paved lot with a 1-story steel building on it, currently being used by the Department of Streets and Sanitation to store and stage their vehicles.

Designed by Epstein, the project will adaptively reuse the warehouse building at 1769 W. Pershing into 232,000 square feet of new commercial office and/or laboratory uses on the basement level through level 2 as well as residential uses consisting of 172 units, 20% of which will be affordable, on levels 3 through 6. The building will have an interior light court carved into the floor plate of the building, be topped by a rooftop garden, and include a residential amenity space on a portion of the basement level.

The project’s unit mix will include 25 studios, 73 one-beds, 49 two-beds, and 25 three-beds. 34 of the 172 units will be affordable with 2 units at 40% AMI, 9 units at 50% AMI, 12 units at 60% AMI, 9 units at 70% AMI, and 2 units at 80% AMI.

On the 1717 W. Pershing lot, the existing paved lot and one-story steel building will be demolished to make way for a new 42,000 square foot retail center with 144 parking spaces.

Set to cost $186 million, the development will be funded with $22.2 million equity, a $93.4 million senior loan, $16.5 million in C-PACE financing, $23.8 million in federal historic tax credits, and $30.175 million in TIF funding. The funding proposal also includes a land write down for acquiring the property from the city with a write down value of $6.656 million. 

With Community Development Commission approval secured, the proposed funding and land sale can proceed to secure final approval from the Chicago City Council. The developer is targeting July 2026 for the start of construction with completion set for March 2028 with ARCO/Murray leading the work.