There is no plan yet. The Northwest Side Community Development Corporation (NWSCDC), along with the support of community partners, business owners and residents, will create an updated community plan that identifies potential buildings and sites for Community Economic Development (CED) projects.

We are working with the Lakota group to help bring the community together and help us envision exciting and viable development concepts for key sites along Grand Avenue, including testing and refining community-driven concepts.

The results of this work will provide a comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure needs of residents in Belmont Cragin. This information will be used to develop a plan for addressing those needs, which will improve the quality of life for residents and the community as a whole and create sustainable, permanent community jobs.

Project will take place in Belmont Cragin, a neighborhood in the far northwest side of Chicago. The physical boundaries will take place within these four Chicago streets: Narragansett Avenue, Belmont Avenue, Cicero Avenue, and Grand Avenue. Our pre-development project will focus on a Grand Avenue corridor study but will make sure to study the entirety of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood.

The Lakota Group will be supporting the Northwest Side CDC and the 36th Ward with project design, community surveying, data collection, and creating project collateral. Lakota will lead with professional planning and design support services for envisioning exciting and viable development concepts for key sites along Grand Avenue in Belmont Cragin. They will work closely with NWSCDC, property owners, and the community to test and refine a preferred series of visions for potential development sites. The concepts developed will be guided and influenced by the City of Chicago’s new Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Policy, as well as the shared vision of community stakeholders.

The Northwest Side CDC, the 36 Ward, and the Lakota Group (an urban planning consulting firm) are working with a steering committee composed of residents, business owners and community stakeholders to identify, create and develop a plan for Grand Ave.

This pre-development planning grant is being supported by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Northwest Side CDC will apply for a CED grant and additional funding to support the execution of the planning findings.

This planning process will engage the community at multiple stages of the development through townhall meetings. We hope to have the complete plan created and developed by the end of Summer 2025.