K-Town Workforce Development Center
GMA-Wight Joint Venture
JOBSITE UPDATE
Location: 1449 S. Keeler Avenue, Chicago, IL
Contract Value: $17,000,000
Client: Lawndale Christian Legal Center
Project Team:
Jeff Williams, Senior Project Manager
Eric Mitchell, Project Manager
DeShawn Wilson, Project Engineer
Dean Schumaker, Superintendent (Wight & Co.)
Gail Cooper, Project Accountant
Michelle Roman, Project Administrator
Project Description:
In 2018, LCLC spent $30,000 to purchase the K-Town property, which has 24,590 square feet and was formerly a Catholic school. The buildout includes both a gut rehab of the existing structure and new construction that will add an entire wing of office and program space. The original masonry building is over 100 years old and needs significant rehab work such as plumbing, electrical and HVAC. An elevator will be added to the new building.
Community partners on the project include Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, North Lawndale Employment Network, I AM ABLE Center for Family Development Inc. and North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council.
Unique Features / Interesting Facts:
The K-Town residential workforce development center will house 20 young men from North Lawndale who either have pending or completed cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The 20 housing units will feature a private bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette. There will be shared space for socializing and meetings, a commercial kitchen, dining area, a computer room and laundry room. Each resident will live at the center, which will be officially named at a later date, for one to three years. The center consists of 50% residential and 50% commercial legal center. Residential portions of the building that were built in 1904 & 1949 will remain, while the commercial wing of the center will be new construction.
Progress Update:
Foundation walls for the new construction building have been poured. We will continue to simultaneously rough-in our MEP’s in the existing building. Our current schedule has the existing building being completed July 31st, while the new construction building is scheduled to be completed on October 30, 2024.
Project Challenges:
The existing buildings were built in 1904 and 1949, which presented quite a few structural issues. All items have been brought up to modern day code and the residential portion of the project maintains an industrial interior look.
