Johnson, community leaders attend grand opening of new affordable housing building on West Side
Mayor Brandon Johnson says that downtown investments are finally making its way to Chicago's West Side.
He attended the grand opening of a new affordable housing project on Monday.
Community leaders at the Grand opening said that the Avenue Apartments was almost nine years in the making, and the doors are a beacon of stability and health for the Westside.
"We're breaking ground. We're cutting ribbons, and we're doing that right here in Austin on the great West Side," Johnson said.
The west Side building is getting a fresh start, thanks to people like Rosie Dawson at the Westside Health Authority.
"Housing hard thing to come by in the Austin area," Dawson said.
She said the city invested about $1.7 million into the new Avenue Apartments here on Chicago Avenue near Austin.
"I want people to understand that it cost more to tear it down than to build it up," Dawson said.
She says it would have cost almost $3 million to tear it down.
"This is what I call sustainable housing," she said. "There's all the amenities that you can have inside of a home without it being a physical home. The rent is set where you can afford to be here until you're ready to move into your own property," she said.
The building offers one and two bedroom apartments, with rent is set between $1,400 and $1,600 a month. Johnson said this is just the beginning of investments coming to fruition on the West Side.
"We put forth the $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond, which is the largest investment for housing and economic development in the history of Chicago, and this is going to fuel construction and rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing," he said.
Johnson said affordable housing is about more than just providing shelter.
"It is about stabilizing our communities, but it's also about making sure that we provide dignity for our people. It's the foundation for opportunity, affordable, fair housing is the corner cornerstone of really what makes communities safer and it allows them to thrive," he said.
CBS News Chicago was told that the Westside Health Authority is in the process of securing tenants for the 20 units available at the refurbished building and plan to start moving people in by mid-November.