The Developers
Southbridge is being developed through a joint venture combining The Community Builders expertise in high quality mixed income development, award winning green design, innovative financial management & public agency collaboration with McCaffery Interests expertise in urban placemaking, mixed-use, transit-oriented development, and high-quality retail leasing.
The Community Builders (TCB) is one of America’s leading nonprofit real estate developers and owners. The organization’s mission is to build and sustain strong communities where people of all incomes can achieve their full potential. TCB realizes this mission by developing, financing and operating high-quality housing and implementing neighborhood-based models that drive economic opportunity for residents.
Since 1964, The Community Builders has constructed or preserved hundreds of affordable and mixed-income housing developments and secured billions of dollars in project financing from public and private sources. Today, TCB owns or manages 11,000 apartments in 14 states. TCB is headquartered in Boston with regional hubs in Chicago and Washington D.C.
McCaffery Interests is a privately owned, full-service commercial real estate company that has been in the business of investing, developing, leasing and managing real estate for more than 25 years. The McCaffery Interests portfolio of planned, completed and managed projects exceed 20 million square feet and include office, mixed-use, hotel, and residential properties, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.
McCaffery specializes in providing a full range of real estate services to our clients including site acquisition, financing, commercial leasing, residential leasing, project management, construction management, tenant coordination, accounting, asset management, property management, and asset disposition. With offices in Chicago, Greater Washington, DC, Pittsburgh and Denver, and controlled assets and completed developments valued in excess of $2 billion, McCaffery Interests is one of the most trusted real estate companies in the nation.
Public Partners
Established in 1937, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) provides homes to more than 50,000 families and individuals, while supporting healthy communities in neighborhoods throughout the city. CHA has utilized the flexibility of the Moving To Work agreement to test innovative, locally designed strategies that use federal dollars to more efficiently help residents become self-sufficient and to increase housing choices for low-income families. As a result, CHA families are more successful than ever before. The CHA is a municipal not-for-profit corporation, governed by the Board of Commissioners consisting of ten mayor-appointed members.
IHDA was created by the state legislature in 1967 as a self-supporting agency to finance affordable housing across Illinois. IHDA does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it does administer publicly funded programs on behalf of the state. Since its creation, IHDA has provided more than $18 billion to finance more than a quarter million affordable homes.
IHDA accomplishes its mission through a number of funding sources including the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credits, the allocation of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and HOME Investment Partnership funds. IHDA is also a bonding authority and independently sells bonds, based on our strong credit rating of A1/AA-/AA- from Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings respectively.
As the principal planning agency for the City of Chicago, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) promotes the comprehensive growth and sustainability of the City and its neighborhoods. The department also oversees the City’s zoning and land use policies and, through its economic development and housing bureaus, employs a variety of resources to encourage business and real estate development, as well as a diverse and stable housing stock throughout the City.
Master Planner
Gensler is a global architecture, design, and planning firm with 46 locations and more than 5,000 professionals networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and the Americas. Founded in 1965, the firm serves more than 3,500 active clients in virtually every industry. Gensler designers strive to make the places people live, work and play more inspiring, more resilient and more impactful.
The Architects
Nia Architects, Inc. is a Chicago-based architecture firm with demonstrated expertise in architecture, interior design and construction management. Founded in 1996, the firm draws its name from an African word meaning “purpose” which serves as the basis for its design approach. Each project begins with a clear sense of direction and aims to meet the client vision through well-conceived and innovative design solutions, resulting in on-time and on-budget projects. Nia Architects’ experience includes education, parks, and recreation, municipal, commercial and residential projects.
Antunovich Associates is an architectural, planning and interior design firm with a broad range of professional expertise that includes master planning, programming, and design of large mixed-use commercial developments, corporate campuses, historic preservation, and adaptive re-use, museums, office buildings, higher education facilities, multi-family residential and retail/commercial projects. The firm’s mission is to create successful design solutions in a timely and cost-effective manner. Antunovich Associates is rooted in the belief that creating exceptional projects is a collaborative process between the client, the builder, and the architect.
Brook Architecture Inc. provides design, urban planning, consulting, project management and forensic building services to private owners, government agencies, developers, and non-profit organizations. Founded in 1995 by licensed architect RaMona Westbrook, and located in Chicago’s Historic Motor Row District, the firm’s diverse portfolio of private and public work includes new construction and renovation of institutional, residential, office and retail spaces. Brook has designed and managed projects for Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Housing Authority, the Public Building Commission of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority, the University of Illinois, and the City Colleges of Chicago.
Worn Jerabek Wiltse Architects, P.C. has extensive experience in the integration of sustainable techniques into the architectural process. Since its inception in 1991, the firm has designed projects with a construction value in excess of a half billion dollars. The firm’s focus is the design of affordable multi-family, market rate multi-family, senior housing, and commercial projects, and has also successfully completed multiple projects in sustainable design and architecture for people with disabilities.
Terry Guen Design Associates, Inc. (TGDA) is a Chicago-based landscape architecture and urban design firm founded in 1999. TGDA is a nationally recognized designer of urban ecological landscapes and public spaces for neighborhood, citywide, and regional scale projects. TGDA provides a full score of landscape architectural services that include concept and schematic site design, ecological assessment and master planning, and construction documentation and review. The firm works closely with clients and project teams to create beautiful, healthy, iconic public spaces and landscapes, which are highly valued by communities, connect people to nature, mitigate the effects of climate change, and activate local economies. This design ethic promotes renewed community identity and inspires community-driven site programs.
Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. is a Chicago-based landscape architecture firm. Their broad practice areas include planning, landscape architecture, streetscape and urban design, and historic landscape preservation. Project types include parks and recreation, natural areas, high-rise, mid-rise, and low-rise housing, streetscapes and plazas, high-rise office buildings, office parks and corporate campuses, college and university campuses, lifestyle, big box, specialty and other retail, a variety of commercial projects, hotels, and historic landscapes. At its best Wolff believes that an interdisciplinary team working together is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Mayor
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot
On May 20, 2019, Lori E. Lightfoot became the 56th Mayor of the City of Chicago. Her campaign’s call for an ethical and responsive government and opportunities for all Chicagoans resonated in every ward of the city.
Mayor Lightfoot carries the watchwords of her campaign into office: Equity*Diversity & Inclusion*Transparency*Accountability*Transformation
Mayor Lightfoot came to City Hall following a career as a manager, advocate, and reform expert, with extensive experience working at the city and federal level to make government more accountable and accessible. Before taking office, she served as a senior equity partner in the Litigation and Conflict Resolution Group at Mayer Brown LLP. While at Mayer Brown, Mayor Lightfoot took on two critical tasks for the City of Chicago, chairing the Police Accountability Task Force, and serving as president of the Chicago Police Board.
Mayor Lightfoot held other key positions in City government, as the Interim First Deputy of the Chicago Department of Procurement Services and Chief of Staff and General Counsel of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Prior to that, Mayor Lightfoot was Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois criminal division, managing large-scale investigations involving criminal drug conspiracies, political corruption and bankruptcy fraud.
Mayor Lightfoot is the youngest of four children born to Elijah and Ann Lightfoot in Massillon, Ohio. With the exception of a one-year clerkship on the Michigan Supreme Court in Detroit, Mayor Lightfoot has lived in Chicago since 1986. She and her spouse, Amy Eshleman, live on the near northwest side with their daughter, Vivian.
She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Michigan and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
Mayor
LORI E. LIGHTFOOT
On May 20, 2019, Lori E. Lightfoot became the 56th Mayor of the City of Chicago. Her campaign’s call for an ethical and responsive government and opportunities for all Chicagoans resonated in every ward of the city.
Mayor Lightfoot carries the watchwords of her campaign into office: Equity*Diversity & Inclusion*Transparency*Accountability*Transformation
Mayor Lightfoot came to City Hall following a career as a manager, advocate, and reform expert, with extensive experience working at the city and federal level to make government more accountable and accessible. Before taking office, she served as a senior equity partner in the Litigation and Conflict Resolution Group at Mayer Brown LLP. While at Mayer Brown, Mayor Lightfoot took on two critical tasks for the City of Chicago, chairing the Police Accountability Task Force, and serving as president of the Chicago Police Board.
Mayor Lightfoot held other key positions in City government, as the Interim First Deputy of the Chicago Department of Procurement Services and Chief of Staff and General Counsel of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Prior to that, Mayor Lightfoot was Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois criminal division, managing large-scale investigations involving criminal drug conspiracies, political corruption and bankruptcy fraud.
Mayor Lightfoot is the youngest of four children born to Elijah and Ann Lightfoot in Massillon, Ohio. With the exception of a one-year clerkship on the Michigan Supreme Court in Detroit, Mayor Lightfoot has lived in Chicago since 1986. She and her spouse, Amy Eshleman, live on the near northwest side with their daughter, Vivian.
She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Michigan and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
Alderman
Pat Dowell
THIRD WARD OF CHICAGO
Elected Alderman of the Third Ward of Chicago in 2007, Pat Dowell has maintained focus on constituent engagement, community-based development, and transparency. By attending and hosting public meetings, she maintains a regular presence in the Third Wards’ diverse communities to ensure everyone’s interests are represented. Alderman Dowell previously held positions as a City Planner and Deputy Commissioner for Neighborhood Planning for the City of Chicago and as executive director of several nonprofits, including the Near West Side Community Development Corporation and the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission.
Alderman
Pat Dowell
THIRD WARD OF CHICAGO
Elected Alderman of the Third Ward of Chicago in 2007, Pat Dowell has maintained focus on constituent engagement, community-based development, and transparency. By attending and hosting public meetings, she maintains a regular presence in the Third Wards’ diverse communities to ensure everyone’s interests are represented. Alderman Dowell previously held positions as a City Planner and Deputy Commissioner for Neighborhood Planning for the City of Chicago and as executive director of several nonprofits, including the Near West Side Community Development Corporation and the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission.