Uptown's Housing Boom Keeps Growing: Cedar Street's Clifton Avenue Project Adds a Second Phase With 99 New Homes
By Socialhood News · Uptown ·
Uptown's residential construction pipeline just got bigger. A second phase of the Cedar Street Companies' development on Clifton Avenue is in the works — and if the numbers hold, it will be nearly two and a half times the size of the building currently going up next door.
According to Uptown Update's November 9 report, the second phase calls for a five-story building with 99 units of housing, to be built on what is currently a parking lot. That figure stands in striking contrast to the 40 units under construction at the adjacent 4725 N. Clifton project, which is already well underway. The new phase also includes two ground-floor retail spaces, which Uptown Update notes are presumably oriented toward Lawrence Avenue — the busy east-west commercial corridor that the Clifton site abuts.
The Cedar Street Companies are a known quantity in Uptown. The firm has been one of the most active developers in the neighborhood over the past several years, with a portfolio of renovated vintage buildings and new construction scattered across the North Side. A second phase at Clifton — adding 99 apartments and street-level retail to a site currently used for parking — fits squarely into the pattern that has defined Uptown's 2026 development story: underutilized land being converted into housing, with ground-floor commercial space built in to animate the street and serve the growing number of residents.
That pattern matters in Uptown right now. The neighborhood has absorbed a remarkable amount of new housing this year, from the foundation permit issued at 4920 N. Sheridan (a five-story, 31-unit building) to the ongoing construction on Clifton itself. With a Trader Joe's confirmed for 804 W. Montrose Ave. in 2027, the retail infrastructure to support a denser neighborhood is following the residential growth. A project that adds 99 apartments and two retail storefronts near Lawrence and Clifton only deepens that momentum — and replaces a parking lot with something that will actually make the block more livable.
The Clifton corridor sits just a short walk from the CTA Red Line's Lawrence stop, making it among the most transit-accessible development sites in the neighborhood. For neighbors who have watched parking lots and vacant land sit idle along the quieter residential streets north of Wilson, the Cedar Street second phase is a concrete signal that investment is now reaching into those blocks as well.
While the construction news gives the neighborhood something to anticipate on the housing front, today also offers more immediate reasons to get out into Uptown. The Chicago Public Library's Uptown Branch, at 929 W. Buena Ave., is hosting Music and Movement Story Time with Ms. My this morning from 11 a.m. to noon — a free, family-friendly program perfect for neighbors with young children on a Friday. And tomorrow, Saturday, November 14, the Uptown Branch hosts a Jazz Institute of Chicago program, "Lost in Space," from 11 a.m. to noon, also free and open to the community.
For neighbors whose plans run to the evening and the weeks ahead, Uptown's concert venues are delivering a steady November lineup. The Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera Theatre — two of the neighborhood's most storied entertainment anchors — have a packed calendar through the rest of the month, with shows including Dalvin La Melodia on November 20 at the Aragon, Trivium on November 20 at the Riviera, and Jorja Smith on November 22 at the Riviera, among others. With the Aragon at 1106 W. Lawrence Ave. and the Riviera at 4746 N. Racine Ave. both a short walk from the Red Line, Uptown's role as the North Side's live music capital remains as strong as ever this fall.
From a 99-unit housing project replacing a parking lot on Clifton to free library programming this morning and a live music calendar that runs through the month, Uptown's mid-November Friday has no shortage of things to notice and look forward to. Are you following the Cedar Street development on Clifton? Planning to catch a show at the Aragon or the Riviera this month? Share your thoughts in the comments and stay connected at exploreuptown.org.
Sources:
1. https://www.uptownupdate.com/
2. https://www.chipublib.org/locations/70/
3. https://www.choosechicago.com/neighborhoods/uptown/