Celebrated transgender advocate, philanthropist and business leader Col. Jennifer Pritzker, alongside 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore, architect Zisong Feng, TAWANI Chief Investment Officer Mary F. Parthe and Pepper Construction Executive Vice President Scot Pepper, took up shovels during a March 3 groundbreaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art affordable housing facility in Rogers Park.
According to a press release, the building is the product of a partnership between TAWANI Property Management ( the property management division of TAWANI Enterprises, Inc ), Z Feng Architect & Company and Pepper Construction.
TAWANI added that the eight-floor brick building at 1323 W. Morse Ave. ( opposite another successful TAWANI project Mayne Stage ) will include 50 units of affordable one and two bedroom apartments, a rooftop deck, onsite bicycle facility, exercise room and three-floor garage. Construction is expected to begin in the Spring with a completion date by Summer 2018. Pre-leasing will be open in the Fall of this year.
Pritzker called the groundbreaking "a great moment for Rogers Park and Chicago."
"My philosophy is that making a profit in business and improving the quality of life in the neighborhood are not mutually exclusive," Pritzker added. "I want to help the city I was born in and make it a better place for all who live and work here. I want this building to be a net gain contribution towards the quality of life for the community. If we want true affordable housing, it must be affordable to all who participate—tenants, workers, the community and investors."
She called Rogers Park, which has been an integral part of her history, "a good neighborhood with plenty of potential for opportunity for anyone who cares to participate."
"We are building a community that proves to the world that a community can be both home to people of all economic circumstances and also successful economically, in terms of safety and in the kind of amenities that people want, expect and deserve in urban living," Moore said.
He asserted that TAWANI has played an essential role in that objective.
"To have this kind of private investment, without any government assistance whatsoever, is key to the revitalization of our neighborhood," he stated.
