Construction work continues on the mixed-use childhood education/residential development next to Horner Park in the Irving Park Community Area. A building permit addressed to 4340 North California Avenue was issued by the city in February 2025, allowing general contractor LG Group Construction to get to work, and they’re now halfway up.
Exterior work is focused now on the second level of the four-story structure created by SEEK Design + Architecture. The first floor will hold the newest Tiny Giants Early Learning Center, with office space plus school and residential support services located on the second floor. At ground level, a 23-space surface parking lot will be accessed by a driveway connecting California Avenue to the alley behind the facility.
It is the two upper floors that give the building its mixed-use status. The third and fourth levels will hold 24 residential units, including one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom floor plans. The units will not be geared toward student living, as the students here will be quite young.
The development replaces a trio of now-demolished buildings along California Avenue, most notably the Ruby’s Cleaners facility on the corner with Montrose Avenue. All three were permitted for demolition in 2024, with work wrapping up in January of last year.
The school and apartments are located across the street from Horner Park and its many recreational activities. For transit, the Route 78 CTA bus has stops on the intersection of Montrose and California. Four blocks south at the south end of the park are stops for the Route 80 bus at Irving Park Road. For north/south travel, just over half a mile east are stops for Route 49 and X49 buses at Western Avenue. The Francisco Brown Line elevated train station is just under one-half mile to the northwest.
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A zoning application has been submitted for the first phase of the Woodlawn Central development at 6320 South Dorchester Avenue. Located just southwest of the upcoming Obama Presidential Center, we initially covered plans for the sprawling campus exactly four years ago. The multi-site plan would replace a collection of parking lots and vacant parcels.
The project is being led by Woodlawn Central LLC and The Apostolic Church of God. The parking lots are owned by the church and currently serve its large auditorium, which would anchor the area. Design efforts are being led by Sherwood Design Engineers. Overall, the project will deliver 1.25 million square feet of space, including residential, commercial, hotel, and community uses.
Phase one will rise on a wedge-shaped lot bounded by the existing Metra tracks to the east. Original plans for this block included a new Metra station and a hotel component, both of which have since been removed. The block-wide building will be anchored by a three-story podium containing 26,000 square feet of retail space, building lobbies, and 300 parking spaces.
Of those parking spaces, 60 will be designated for residents, while 240 will serve visitors and church members. Above the podium will be two towers, each rising 14 stories and reaching 160 feet in height. Together, they will contain 231 residential units, though the unit mix has not yet been disclosed. Of these units, 20 percent will be designated as affordable housing.
Future phases of the project will include additional residential, parking, and retail space, as well as office space, a hotel, theater, museum, digital center, greenhouse, and public open space. A more detailed breakdown of each block from the original announcement can be found here. With zoning approval still pending, a construction timeline for phase one has not yet been established.
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A PNC Bank branch has been permitted for construction at 5430 West Belmont Avenue on the south boundary of the Portage Park Community Area. It will be built on a surface parking lot across the street from an existing PNC Bank facility at 5455 West Belmont. That branch, due to its location on the south side of the street, is in the Belmont Cragin Community Area.
The permit was applied for on August 21, 2025, and it came through December 19 with a reported cost of $2,216,523. It allows for a one-story building at the T intersection of Belmont and Lotus Avenues, and includes a new surface parking lot with a drive-thru lane and a drive-up ATM. New landscaping will be added, along with a trash enclosure. Gary Warren is named as the architect of record, and W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor.
The construction site is next to 5420 Belmont, a three-story, 15-unit residential development constructed as an addition to a single-story retail building. Permitted in 2022, it was to contain 13 dwelling units, but a permit revision was issued in July 2024 to convert two of the first-floor retail spaces in residences. That residential building appears to share the parking lot PNC Bank will now build upon.
No official word yet as to whether the new branch will replace the one across the street, which also has a surface parking lot, drive-thru lane, a drive-up ATM, and second-floor offices, or if that will remain open, in part or entirely.
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