A vacant, 127-year-old church at the corner of North Spaulding Avenue and West Pierce Avenue in Humboldt Park could soon be reborn as 20 rental apartments, with a developer now seeking the zoning change needed to make it happen. The proposal from Vandy Projects would convert the long-empty building at 3300 W. Pierce into a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, with six of them set aside as affordable housing.
The zoning application, first reported by chicago.urbanize.city, lays out a $5.5 million project designed by OTJ Architects. The plan calls for six one-bedroom units, seven two-bedroom units, five three-bedroom units and two four-bedroom units, according to the outlet's reporting. Six of the 20 units would be reserved as affordable, per the same account, while the remainder would function as workforce housing.
Under the developer's proposal, detailed by Chicago YIMBY, the six affordable units are targeted for households earning up to 60 percent of Area Median Income, while the 14 market-rate units are designated as workforce housing for tenants earning up to 100 percent of Area Median Income. That 30 percent affordable set-aside exceeds the baseline requirement under Chicago's Affordable Requirements Ordinance, which generally mandates at least 20 percent affordable units for residential projects of 10 or more units receiving a zoning change, as noted by Illinois Policy.
A Century-Old Structure Gets New Life
The three-story church building dates back to 1899 and still features metal ceiling trusses in a vaulted hall along with original stained-glass windows, according to a LoopNet listing describing the property. The conversion work would include foundation repairs, roof improvements, window replacement and sidewalk repair, per the reporting from chicago.urbanize.city. The project also includes a northeast-facing mural created with community arts partners, the outlet reports.
The proposal was presented to the community during a 26th Ward meeting in February, according to the site's reporting. Construction would take 13 months to complete once the required approvals are granted, and would only begin at that point, per the same account.
No Parking, By Design
Notably, the project site would have no car parking at all. That's made possible by an ordinance the Chicago City Council passed in July 2025, eliminating minimum off-street parking mandates for residential and commercial developments in Transit Served Locations near CTA train stations and bus corridors, as explained by Thompson Coburn LLP. The reform was enacted as part of Mayor Brandon Johnson's Cut the Tape initiative to streamline development, the law firm notes. Vandy Projects instead plans to provide resident parking within a half-mile radius of the building and would include 20 bike parking spaces on-site, according to chicago.urbanize.city's reporting.
The zero-parking approach marks a shift from a 2019 proposal for the same site, when a different developer sought to convert the church into 13 for-sale condominium units. That earlier plan was rejected by the former 26th Ward alderman following opposition from nearby neighbors concerned about on-street parking and building scale, according to Chicago YIMBY's account of the site's history.
Rezoning Still Needs Multiple Sign-Offs
To move forward, the developer must rezone the site from RS-3, which strictly limits property use to single-family detached homes and two-unit residential buildings, to B2-5, which allows multi-unit residential density with a floor area ratio of up to 5.0, per Birchwood Law. That kind of upzoning request requires public hearings along with approval from the City Council's Committee on Zoning, the local alderman and the full City Council, according to chicago.urbanize.city's reporting.
The site sits within the 26th Ward, represented by Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, a community organizer elected to the Chicago City Council in 2023, according to the City of Chicago. Her office's support is considered essential for the rezoning to advance through the council process.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Humboldt Park
The 3300 W. Pierce proposal isn't the first time a vacant Humboldt Park church has been eyed for housing. In May 2024, the city approved an adaptive reuse project converting the 98-year-old Humboldt Park United Methodist Church and an adjacent building into 10 affordable apartments in partnership with nonprofit developer LUCHA, according to the City of Chicago. Declining church attendance and high maintenance costs have prompted several religious institutions across the city to pursue similar redevelopments.
The push for more housing comes against a backdrop of citywide supply pressure. More than 120,000 Chicago households spend over 30 percent of their monthly income on rent or housing costs, according to the Metropolitan Planning Council, a cost burden that can escalate displacement risks in gentrifying West Side neighborhoods. Chicago permitted just 1.36 housing units per 1,000 residents in 2023, trailing far behind the average of 4.71 units per 1,000 residents recorded across the nine other largest U.S. cities, according to Illinois Policy's analysis. Whether the 3300 W. Pierce conversion clears its zoning hurdles will now depend on the same balancing act that has shaped the site for years: preserving a historic structure, addressing neighbors' longstanding parking concerns, and expanding affordable housing in a neighborhood facing rising costs.
