Seventy affordable apartments spread across three walk-up buildings in West Town, Humboldt Park and Logan Square have emerged from a $40.5 million top-to-bottom rehabilitation, giving longtime tenants new kitchens and new roofs while rents remain income-restricted. Mayor Brandon Johnson cut the ribbon on the finished project. The project preserves affordable housing.
The project, known as Boulevard Apartments Preservation, was led by Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, which describes the work as the rehabilitation of 70 units of affordable housing located in three separate walk-up buildings. Bickerdike, which also owns the buildings according to Block Club Chicago, identifies the three buildings as being in West Town, Humboldt Park and Logan Square.
Mayor Johnson framed the completed rehab as evidence of a dual strategy for Chicago's housing stock. Posting as @chicagosmayor, he wrote that “we're building affordable homes across our city and preserving what already exists,” adding that the Boulevard Apartments rehabilitation represents “a long-term investment in the families and communities that make Chicago strong,” a message that tagged the Chicago Department of Housing, Bickerdike and the 26th Ward. The Mayor Brandon Johnson
post credited the project with ensuring families can remain in their communities.
Studios to Four-Bedrooms, With Income Caps Built In
The 70 apartments range from studios to four-bedroom units, per Bickerdike's own accounting of the property. The unit mix breaks down into 12 four-bedroom apartments, 14 three-bedroom units, 25 two-bedroom units, 18 one-bedroom units and a single studio.
Affordability restrictions run across the entire building roster. Half of the units are capped at 50% of Area Median Income, with the rest capped at 60% AMI, the developer notes. Existing subsidy contracts with the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund push 27 of those units even deeper, targeting households at 15% and 30% AMI. The property accepts Section 8 vouchers, though Bickerdike's listing states that the waitlist is currently closed.
New Furnaces, New Roofs, New Cameras
Beyond the income restrictions, tenants are getting hardware upgrades as part of the rehab. The rehab included ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, 95% efficient furnaces, central air conditioning, programmable thermostats and LED lighting throughout the units, according to Bickerdike's project page. Building-wide, crews handled new roofs, masonry repairs, replacement windows, upgraded electrical service and new security cameras in common areas.
Block Club Chicago's 2024 coverage of the then-underway renovation described the same scope of work in tenant-facing terms, reporting that apartments would be modernized with new kitchens, energy-saving appliances, bathrooms and flooring. The financing behind those upgrades drew on more than one funding stream: architecture firm LBBA notes that the project received both historic tax credits and ComEd sustainability grants.
Part of a Longer Preservation Track Record
Boulevard Apartments joins a string of similar preservation projects Bickerdike has completed on Chicago's Northwest Side in recent years. The nonprofit finished the 318-unit West Town Housing Preservation project in 2019, and it wrapped the 107-unit Victory Apartments Preservation project in Humboldt Park in 2021, according to Block Club Chicago's reporting.
Those earlier projects, like Boulevard Apartments, focused on preserving affordable housing and helping residents remain in their communities. The City of Chicago's own announcement, known so far only through a search snippet, describes the mayor's ribbon-cutting as preserving 70 affordable homes across three buildings — language that echoes the framing used throughout Bickerdike's project materials and the mayor's own social media post.
