The Near South Side is officially getting a new tower crane. On March 16, 2026, the city signed off on a tower crane permit for Southbridge Phase 1C, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for a planned 12-story mixed-use building. The approval lets crews bring a crane onto the site and marks a clear shift from paperwork to vertical construction. Neighbors should plan for more heavy equipment, truck deliveries, and a streetscape that changes almost week to week as the project ramps up.
Designed by Gensler and Nia Architects, the slim tower is set to rise about 141 feet with 80 mixed-income apartments and roughly 1,500 square feet of corner retail, according to Urbanize Chicago. Plans call for a top-floor fitness center, amenity lounge, residential storage, and a roof deck facing north toward downtown. The building will include a bike room but no on-site parking. At street level, the structure is expected to be clad in brick with metal paneling above, giving the mid-rise a contemporary finish.
Financing and public support
The roughly $52.3 million development is supported by a layered financing stack that includes $11.9 million in TIF dollars along with CHA soft funds, IHDA programs, lender financing, and equity, as reported by Chicago YIMBY. Those subsidies and grants were critical to closing the deal and securing construction financing. The public portion of the stack is aimed at folding deeply affordable CHA units into a broader mixed-income building.
Land sale and approvals
Earlier City Council action cleared the sale of city-owned lots and the TIF authorization that feed the project’s subsidy package, a local-industry write-up notes. Chicago Build reports the council approved both the land sale and the $11.9 million in TIF funding that helped make the financing stack work for the developer. Those local approvals were the final policy steps needed before construction permits could move forward.
Permits, contractors and schedule
With foundation and full building permits already in hand, the tower crane permit is the last major piece McHugh Construction and Powers & Sons needed to begin vertical work on the site, Urbanize Chicago reports. Urbanize adds that the project team had originally targeted a Q4 2025 start and a Q4 2027 completion, though a revised schedule has not been publicly announced. In practice, crane mobilization usually comes just before the first visible floors rise, so residents can take it as one of the clearest signs that full construction activity is underway.
Why this matters
Phase 1C sits on part of an 11-acre site that replaces the former Harold Ickes Homes and is intended to knit more mixed-income housing into the Near South Side, per reporting by Chicago YIMBY. The 80 apartments are planned as 20 studios, 50 one-bedrooms, and 10 two-bedrooms, with a mix of market-rate and deeply affordable CHA units at 30% and 60% AMI. For nearby residents, the immediate impact will be construction activity at the southeast corner of E. 23rd Street and S. State Street and, over the longer term, a new mid-rise that adds housing and a small retail presence to the block.
