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POAH's Woodlawn Station receives grant to support retail build-out

April 30, 2019

POAH has received a grant from the City of Chicago to support commercial development at  Woodlawn Station - its mixed-use building at the entrance to the CTA's Green Line station at 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue that features 70 mixed-income apartments and 15,000 square feet of first floor retail space.

On April 29, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that 94 businesses and neighborhood organizations from the South, West and Southwest sides, including POAH, will receive a total of $25 million in Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants.

According to the City's announcement, the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund is an innovative program that leverages downtown growth to make direct investments in commercial corridors across the City’s South, West and Southwest side neighborhoods. The program is designed to catalyze business activity along the commercial corridors, to building up amenities and deliver services or products.

Woodlawn Station is the latest phase in POAH's Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, a broad effort to revitalize and re-invest in this South Side neighborhood of Chicago that POAH began in 2008.

Investments from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund support neighborhood businesses looking to physically expand their footprint to grow and enhance their business in their current location. 

All projects are selected based on neighborhood needs, their potential to help catalyze nearby investments, their impact on commercial corridors, the experience and financial capacity of the applicants, and overall viability, among other criteria.

As the centerpiece of Mayor Emanuel’s equitable development initiatives, the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund uses voluntary payments from downtown development projects to support the projects. The payments are in exchange for density bonuses that enable new construction projects to exceed zoning limits for a specific development site. 

POAH's grant will help faciliate the build-out for new retail tenant Waggin’ SWAG Pet Salon. Woodlawn Station is also the new home of the iconic Daley's Restaurant, the 127-year-old Woodlawn diner that moved from its spot a few doors down on 63rd Street.

photo: POAH Development Associate Nikkitta McCoy shares the news