The project will have 9,900 square feet of retail space and 39 residential units, officials said. View Full Caption 45th Ward Office

JEFFERSON PARK — The Chicago City Council Wednesday approved a plan to transform blighted land into a "grand gateway" into Jefferson Park with 39 apartments and nearly a dozen shops.

The project, described by Ald. John Arena (45th) as a way to jump-start development in the area, was approved without discussion by the Council, which agreed to sell a piece of city-owned property worth $530,000 for $1 to Mega Realty, one of the area's largest landowners.

Four of the project's 39 apartments will be set aside for low-income residents and rent for less than $1,000, officials said.

The four-story project at 5161 W. Lawrence Ave. and 5201 W. Lawrence Ave. would be built on lots that have been vacant for nearly 15 years. The city had torn down several buildings to make way for a seven-story, 132-unit condominium complex but that project was never built.

The project has been criticized by some Jefferson Park residents as a giveaway of city-owned land to a private firm, the same company behind the original plan for the seven-story building on the property.

Arena touted the development as a way to correct mistakes made more than a decade ago by city leaders and bring new life to the struggling business district around Lawrence and Milwaukee avenues.

If the development is successful and produces a 2.5 percent return on the investment for developers — or if Mega Realty sells the property within 10 years — the city will get $636,000 as a return on the sale of the property for $1, officials said.

The $16 million project would include space for 11 stores on the ground floor, with 41 parking spaces in an indoor garage for residents and their guests.

A 3,500-square-foot public plaza would also be built on a trapezoidal piece of property between Laramie and Avondale avenues that also will feature a 21-space parking lot, according to project renderings.

The project is expected to generate $175,000 in sales and property taxes a year once it is completed, Arena said.

The complex will have 24 two-bedroom units and 15 one-bedroom units that will rent for between $1,000 and $1,500, officials with Mega Realty said.

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