The transformation of the 90 South Side acres once home to the Chicago Housing Authority’s Madden Park and Ida B. Wells developments continues with the introduction of Grove Place, the area’s first new mid-rise building. The structure is part of the Oakwood Shores development, which kicked off in 2005 with a mixture of townhouses and single-family homes—for rent and for sale—comprising 453 units. The seven-story, 83-unit Grove Place, at 37th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, will have a mix of one-bedroom to three-bedroom condos and townhouses.

Developers are selling 20 percent of the units at reduced prices as part of an affordable housing program. Market-rate units begin at $179,900, which buys an 800-square-foot condo with one bedroom. Two-bedroom units (1,060 square feet) start at $229,900; three-bedroom units (1,403 square feet) top out at $329,900. Occupancy is scheduled to begin in early 2009.

“This is a very important piece for us,” says Joseph A. Williams, president of Granite Development, which has led work on Oakwood Shores.”It’s a big part of the plan to have a multigenerational community,” an acknowledgment that the Grove Place condos, priced lower than the surrounding houses, should attract a mix of younger and older buyers.

Illustration: Courtesy of Granite Development Corporation