An overdue transformation is finally set to take place at the former Von Humboldt Elementary School.
A former Humboldt Park school will transform into affordable apartments
Last week, the Chicago City Council finally approved a funding agreement for Humboldt Village.
The plan? Turning the 130-year-old shuttered school at 2620 W. Hirsch St. into 103 affordable apartments, along with other amenities.
The approval comes roughly a decade after the developers first presented redevelopment plans to neighbors.
The project was originally called “Teachers Village” as far back as 2016, when RBH Group proposed it as teacher-focused housing. Block Club Chicago reported in August that the stalled project had new owners, The Community Builders, who took over the search for funding and renamed it “Humboldt Village.”
According to Block Club Chicago, City Council approved more than $66 million in public funds for the affordable housing project.
Chicago clears $66M for $95M Humboldt Village project
The funding package combines money from the city’s Housing and Economic Development Bond with low-income housing tax credits allocated through the Department of Housing. The bond program is part of a $1.25 billion affordable housing and economic development plan City Council approved in 2024.
The project is estimated to cost $95 million, Department of Housing officials and developers said last week during a City Council finance committee meeting that debated the project cost.
The planned apartments include 17 studios, 59 one-bedroom units, 17 two-bedroom units, and 10 three-bedroom units. According to the project funding presentation cited by Block Club Chicago, rents will vary by apartment size and income tier, from $945 for a studio at the cited 50%-of-area-median-income tier to $2,257 for a three-bedroom apartment.
While the funding approval clears a major hurdle for the site’s reuse, there is no official construction start date.
