City Says Yes: Chicago Approves 90 Affordable Homes for Edgewater — and a Devon Avenue Proposal Adds 27 More to the Pipeline
By Socialhood News · Edgewater ·
Edgewater residents woke up Thursday to some of the most consequential housing news the neighborhood has seen in years. In a pair of developments that landed within 24 hours of each other, the Chicago City Council gave its formal stamp of approval to 90 new affordable apartments headed for the Broadway and Thorndale corridor — and a separate developer unveiled plans to build 27 more units on a long-dormant stretch of Devon Avenue, opening a fresh round of community feedback before the project can move forward.
The bigger of the two votes happened Wednesday at City Hall. The Chicago City Council approved plans to build nearly 200 new affordable homes across two neighborhoods — 90 of them in Edgewater, and the remainder in Humboldt Park — with city subsidies totaling $57.6 million, including what WTTW News reported is the first large chunk of funds from Mayor Brandon Johnson's signature economic development effort. The Edgewater portion will be built near Broadway and Thorndale Avenue by Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., a well-regarded nonprofit developer with deep roots in Chicago's affordable housing sector. Both projects are also set to take advantage of city programs to borrow funds — a reminder, as WTTW noted, of how complicated and expensive it remains to build affordable housing in Chicago even when the political will is there.
For Edgewater, a neighborhood that has spent much of 2026 in active debate over housing density and who gets to live here, Wednesday's vote represents a concrete milestone. The Broadway and Thorndale area — the same corridor that has been drawing new restaurants and retail throughout the year — will now anchor a significant new residential investment aimed squarely at low- and moderate-income Chicagoans. Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. has not yet announced a construction timeline or a projected opening date for the Edgewater development, but the City Council's approval clears one of the most significant hurdles any affordable housing project faces in Chicago.
One day earlier, on Monday, September 22nd, a second housing proposal surfaced for the neighborhood's northern edge. Block Club Chicago reported that developer Deborah Smith is asking Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) for a zoning change to build a five-story apartment building with 27 apartments and ground-floor commercial space at 1449 W. Devon Ave. The site is currently occupied by an empty single-story commercial building constructed in 1945 — the kind of underutilized property that 48th Ward residents and the alderwoman's office have repeatedly identified as a target for thoughtful densification. The property went on the market this year with an asking price of $288,500, according to a real estate listing cited by Block Club. Neighbors have until October 16 to submit feedback on the proposal through the alderwoman's office before it advances.
Taken together, the two projects illustrate the dual track on which Edgewater's housing future is being built right now: large-scale, publicly subsidized affordable development anchored by mission-driven nonprofits like Bickerdike, and smaller-scale private infill proposals like the Devon Avenue project that go through the ward's community review process before reaching City Council. Neither path is fast or simple, but both moved measurably forward this week.
For residents who want to engage with the Devon Avenue proposal before the October 16 feedback deadline, the 48th Ward alderwoman's office at ward48.com is the place to start. For those tracking the Bickerdike affordable development near Broadway and Thorndale, watching the developer's announcements and future community meetings will be the best way to follow construction progress. Edgewater's housing story is still being written — and as this week proved, showing up matters.
Sources:
1. https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/23/city-council-approves-plans-200-affordable-homes-edgewater-humboldt-park
2. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/22/5-story-apartment-building-could-replace-empty-storefront-on-edgewaters-devon-avenue/