New Independence, West Ridge Libraries Inch Forward As Developer Announced

IRVING PARK — The CHA Board of Commissioners is maintaining momentum behind the construction of two mixed-use buildings that will combine affordable housing and new Chicago Public Library branches in Irving Park and West Ridge.

On Tuesday, the board announced that Evergreen Real Estate Group has been selected to oversee the housing/library complexes, one at 4022 N. Elston Ave. and the other at 6800 N. Western Ave.

The Evergreen Real Estate Group team will consist of Quad Communities Development Corporation, Laube Companies and Evergreen Construction Company. The North River Commission is also a member of the Elston site's development group.

Evergreen Real Estate Group specializes in market rate and affordable housing for families and seniors. The company is in the process of redeveloping Ravenswood Hospital's former neurological center as affordable senior housing.

The CHA-Chicago Public Library partnership, which will incorporate libraries as ground-floor community anchors within housing developments, was announced last October.

Patrons of the Independence Branch in Irving Park and the Northtown Branch in West Ridge had been clamoring for new, upgraded buildings for years.

The Northtown Branch was built in 1962 and hasn't been renovated since. The Independence Branch has operated out of a series of leased facilities since its founding in 1889, and its most recent home, 3542-3552 W. Irving Park Road, has been closed due to smoke damage since October 2015, when an extra-alarm fire destroyed the building next door.

The new West Ridge Branch will replace the former Bingo City at Pratt and Western. The new Independence Branch will replace the Hollerbach Funeral Home on Elston.

The initiative puts Chicago on the forefront of redefining shared spaces, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said when announcing the CHA-Chicago Public Library partnership.

The potential is for the libraries to become places where people learn as much from each other as from books, Emanuel said.

The partnership also enables CHA to build affordable housing in areas where it's not plentiful, said Eugene Jones, CHA CEO.

At a community meeting in West Ridge, Jones told residents the goal was to open the library-housing complexes in winter 2019.

CHA and Chicago Public Library are also sponsoring a design competition aimed at attracting world-class architects to the mixed-use projects. Thirty-two firms submitted proposals, which a design committee has winnowed to nine finalists.

The winning designer for each site is expected to be selected in early March.

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