Twin Buildings, One Bold Vision: Chicago Picks West Englewood's Next Big Transit-Oriented Development on 63rd Street
By Socialhood News · West Englewood ·
A stretch of 63rd Street that has sat vacant for years beside the CTA Green Line's Ashland/63rd terminus is about to get a second act — and the city has chosen the team to make it happen. In July 2026, Chicago officially selected a proposal led by local real estate company E.G. Woode L3C to develop two city-owned parcels at 1515 W. 63rd Street and 1607 W. 63rd Street in West Englewood, marking one of the most significant transit-oriented development wins the neighborhood has seen in recent memory.
The two sites had remained empty for years, including land assembled from older city holdings and a 2025 Hilco auction acquisition. The city issued a Request for Proposal late last year and, after weighing development concept, financial capacity, and team experience, named E.G. Woode L3C's team as the winner in July. The city would sell both lots for $1 each — a signal of just how seriously Chicago wants to see this stretch of the 63rd corridor activated.
The architectural vision is striking. The chosen concept features two four-story buildings that mirror each other with triangular forms and rounded corners along 63rd Street — a design that emphasizes an active streetfront while preserving the rear portions of both lots as sizable green space. Together, the two buildings would bring 36 mixed-income homes to the corridor, with a projected total development cost of $18 million. To close the financing gap, the development team plans to seek up to $5 million in Community Development Grants, along with other grant funding sources.
Both parcels sit directly adjacent to the CTA Green Line's Ashland/63rd terminus station, which formally qualifies the project as a Transit-Oriented Development — a designation that encourages density, walkability, and reduced car dependency near public transit. For West Englewood, a neighborhood where the Green Line has long served as a daily lifeline for residents commuting to jobs and services across the city, placing new mixed-income housing literally beside that station is a deliberate statement: this community deserves to live where the city is most connected.
The project is part of a broader redevelopment push along the 63rd Street corridor that has been gathering momentum throughout 2026. The city's INVEST South/West initiative has identified the 63rd and Halsted intersection and adjacent blocks as a priority focus for the Greater Englewood area — pushing to re-activate a commercial corridor that once served as a vibrant neighborhood anchor. The E.G. Woode L3C selection fits squarely within that vision, adding density and retail-ready ground-floor space to a section of 63rd Street that has been conspicuously quiet for too long.
Grow Greater Englewood, a community development organization active in the neighborhood, hosted a virtual session in July to discuss the project's implications — including how Tax Increment Financing and other incentives could accelerate redevelopment not just at these two parcels, but across the broader 63rd corridor. Community discussions have also touched on the neighborhood's Community Compact Framework Planning Team, which has been actively exploring TIF and other tools to fast-track growth in what it calls the Agro Eco Planning District and Greenline Modernization Section.
For residents, the next steps are where things get real. The project still requires zoning approvals and a final financing close before shovels go in the ground, meaning there will be additional public hearings and community input opportunities before construction begins. If you live in West Englewood and want a say in how these buildings take shape — their affordability mix, their ground-floor tenants, their relationship to the Green Line platform — those conversations are happening now. Follow Grow Greater Englewood and keep an eye on the 16th Ward office of Ald. Stephanie Coleman for announcements about upcoming community meetings on the 1515 and 1607 W. 63rd Street sites. This is the moment to show up.
Sources:
1. https://chicagoyimby.com/2026/07/city-selects-pair-of-mixed-use-buildings-for-west-englewood.html
2. https://www.unitedstatesrealestateinvestor.com/chicago-picks-mixed-use-projects-west-englewood/
3. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/invest_sw/home/greater-englewood.html