Federal Grant to Revitalize Woodlawn; Antheus Capital LLC Buys Regents Park Complex

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods, a $122 million program meant to revitalize certain neglected communities in Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco and Seattle, has awarded $30.5 million to Chicago’s Woodlawn community.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the Boston-based non-profit real estate developer will use the funds to redevelop Grove Parc Plaza, a 12-acre,  Section 8 housing community built in the 1960s along South Cottage Grove. The existing distressed 504 housing units will be completely demolished and replaced with on-site or nearby mixed-income apartments. The developer will expand the former Grove Parc site by adding 420 new, green housing units that would create Woodlawn Park, a healthier mixed-use community. The redevelopment will also benefit from 95,000 square feet of retail and community space along the South Cottage Grove Avenue corridor.

In other South Side residential news, a two-tower apartment community, located at 5020- 5050 S. Lake Shore Drive was purchased by Englewood, N.J.-based Antheus Capital LLC for an undisclosed amount, informs ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com. However, according to sources quoted by the website, the sales price could range from $160 million to $170 million.

Regents Park, a 1,031-unit lakefront property next to Hyde Park, was completed in 1972 and overlooks Lake Michigan and Burnham Park to the east and Harold Washington Park to the south. The building was bought in 2005 by Miami-based developer Crescent Heights for $128 million. The two apartment towers, which are currently 95 percent occupied, offer rents ranging from $1,202 for a studio to $2,581 for a four-bedroom unit. However, ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com notes that after renovating the community, Antheus Capital might increase rents.