Plans for Empty Lot Raise Gentrification Fears in Chicago's Pilsen

Developer Property Market Group (PMG) plans a mixed-use development in Chicago's Pilsen, but so far it's unclear how they will zone it. "PMG bought the vacant 7.85-acre site, located between 16th and 18th streets and Newberry Avenue and Peoria Street​, in January," Stephany Lulay reports for DNA Info. The group had originally planned to build a 500-unit apartment building, but was unwilling to create the 21 percent affordable units that the neighborhood requires. Their new plan will feature fewer units. "In addition to new residences, the development will try to bring new business, resident amenities and an art walk project on Peoria Street, according to a promotional video," Lulay writes.

Such a development would require zoning changes, something Alderman Danny Solis has so far been unwilling to grant. Some Pilsen residents fear that the new development will accelerate an unwelcome change in the neighborhood, which is already losing Latino families.