University Village is a renamed near west Chicago community consisting of newly constructed residential and retail properties and is home to a mixed income blend of ethnically diverse residents. University Village in Chicago consists of major developments and well-known Chicago neighborhoods. The Ivy Hall development, the University Commons development, and Roosevelt Square are new developments created after the tear downs of the pre-existing residential and business communities. An established Chicago neighborhood, Little Italy, also is included in University Village area. University Village is located south and west of the University of Illinois at Chicago and surrounds the campus. It is east of the Illinois Medical District. Also, the Pilsen community borders the south of University Village. The Dan Ryan expressway I-94 borders the area on the east and Ashland Avenue borders the community on the west. University Village is considered on the edge of downtown Chicago.

Politically, University Village is currently served by the the 25th Ward Alderman, Daniel Solis, for the City of Chicago. The neighborhood also is served by the Illinois 7th Congressional District seat in the U.S. congress, currently filled by democrat Danny K. Davis.

University Village is a late 1990s and early 2000s housing redevelopment in the shadows of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Historically, the neighborhood encompasses the old Maxwell Street neighborhood. From the late 19th century until the 1920s, the Maxwell Street neighborhood was an important Jewish neighborhood for many Jews who had escaped government organized pogroms in their countries of origin. They established an outdoor market both to replicate many of the traditional markets from their countries of origin, but also as a way to make a living when starting out in the United States with very little. Once the Great Migration of African Americans from the South began in 1919, the neighborhood became increasingly African American though many of the businesses remained in Jewish hands. It is at this time that the music known as Chicago Blues originated and was performed on Maxwell Street.

The motto of Maxwell street was "we cheat you fair" and it was widely known that people should get to the market early so that they could be the first customer of the day because vendors would go down to any price so they could sell something to the first customer of the day, thinking that it would bring them luck. Nate's Deli which was previously Lyon's deli was an important landmark in the neighborhood. Opened by Ben Lyon, a Jewish man in the neighborhood, in the 1920s, he eventually sold the deli to his devoted employee, Nate Duncan, an African American child of the Great Migration. Nate kept all of the original recipes until the deli was torn down by the University Village development in the 1990s. The famous scene from the "Blues Brothers" where Aretha Franklin sings "Think" was filmed in Nates Deli.

It was at University Village's Maxwell Street where Abe "Fluky" Drexler first began to sell the Chicago style hot dog in 1929, and where Jim Stefanovic created the Maxwell Street Polish at Jim's Hot Dog Stand. (Chicagoans believe that this is where the hot dog itself was invented....) The Original Jim's was torn down around 2002 and relocated to nearby Union Street, just off the Roosevelt Road on-ramp to the 90/94 expressway, still in the neighborhood. The Maxwell street market continues today on Canal Street between Taylor and 16th streets, east of University Village. It is largely a Mexican street market today, and is still a wonderful place to find interesting things and great bargains.

The retail heart of University Village today still is Maxwell Street and Halsted, but many of the old buildings have been razed to make way for new construction. Several buildings have been saved and rehabilitated in order to retain some of the neighborhood's original character. Restaurants and upscale services that cater to middle to high income residents and college students now stand there.

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Little Italy encompasses a 12 block stretch of Taylor Street east of Ashland Avenue and the streets to the north and south for several blocks in each direction. The neighborhood lies between the Illinois Medical District to the west and the University of Illinois at Chicago to the east. It is a neighborhood of strongly Italian influence.

Little Italy never had a concentration of Italian-Americans that constituted a majority.^[1] Other ethnicities have always been present in the area known as "Little Italy."^[2] Nonetheless, the neighborhood was given its name due to the strong influence of Italians and Italian culture on the neighborhood throughout the 19th and 20th century.

Though the Italian population declined throughout the late 20th century, many Italian restaurants and groceries remain in the formerly prominent Taylor Street corridor.^[3] The neighborhood also hosts the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame as well as the historic Roman Catholic churches Our Lady of Pompeii and Holy Guardian Angel.^[1]

Recent gentrification--Rents in the area have risen in the past few decades due to an influx of condominiums, townhouses, and the proximity of Little Italy to UIC and the Loop. An example of this gentrification: in the 1990 census, no homes in the Little Italy sample area were reported to be worth more than $400,000. By contrast, according to the 2000 census, 62 homes were reportedly worth more than $500,000, and 13 of those were worth at least $1 million.^[4]

Landmarks--

Two of the more significant landmarks of Little Italy were the Catholic churches of Our Lady of Pompeii and Holy Guardian Angel founded by Mother Cabrini.^[5] Holy Guardian Angel was the first Italian congregation in Chicago. The parish was established in 1898, and the church was built on Arthington Street in 1899. Due to the burgeoning population, a second major Italian church, Our Lady of Pompeii, was founded in 1911. ^[6] The Holy Guardian Angel Church was razed for the construction of the expressway system.^[7] The Our Lady of Pompeii Church is now a the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.

Hull House, Jane Addams' settlement house known for its social and educational programs was also located within the Little Italy area.

In recent years, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (founded in 1977 in Elmwood Park, Illinois) was relocated to a new building in Little Italy.

Near Maxwell and Halsted, University Commons stands on five city blocks that for 78 years was the home of Chicago’s South Water Market. Originally, south Water market sprawled along the Chicago River on South Water Street. It stretched westward from what is now Michigan Ave. It was fairly assessable to the rail yards; and most of all, it was backed up to the docks where incoming vessels could bring fruits and vegetables from the states located around the Great Lakes. Michigan was a big supplier during the warm months. Cherries, celery, apples, plums and other fresh commodities were put on boats in Benton Harbor, St. Joe, Ludington, Traverse City and other Michigan port cities and shipped to the South Water Market.

Around 1925, the City of Chicago began the construction of new streets parallel to the Chicago River and the market was in the way. As a result, the market was moved to the location that is University Commons today. The displacement of the market was hailed as a good move since the market was now close to modernizing transportation infrastructure such as trucks and railroads. To make room for the new South Water Market, deteriorated existing houses were bulldosed down in this high crime neighborhood, then called the Village. In 1925, the cost for the approximate 13 acres of land and buildings was around 17 million dollars.

On July 10, 2003, The Chicago Planning Commission granted their approval on the sale of the 78 year old produce market for a cost of approximately 36 million dollars to Enterprise Companies of Chicago. Enterprise turned the South Water Market's six buildings of 4 levels into 824, one, two and three bedroom loft apartments with 4500 sq. ft. of retail property. The cost of this redevelopment was in the range of 200 million dollars in August/September 2003.

The market was auctioned off to a few other interested developers taking in all intentions of the 5 highest bidders, Enterprise Companies, was offered the deal because of their interest to not tear down the 78 year old units. Other bidders had intentions of demolition rather than saving and restoring the terra cotta facades, as Chicago University Commons plans to do.

The three-story buildings were originally designed by the architects Fugard & Knapp. They were adorned with intricately carved terra-cotta façades reminiscent of the acclaimed Wrigley Building, which dates to the same era. Terra-cotta carvings and floral ornaments were cleaned, repaired or replaced by the firm Pappageorge/Haymes Ltd., a leading urban residential architecture firm.

On May 16, 2005, boosted by recent approval of $9.7 million in funds from the Roosevelt/Racine Tax Increment Financing District, LR Development Company, along with partner Quest Development, broke ground on Phase I townhomes and condominiums in the new Roosevelt Square mixed-income community on Chicago's Near West Side. Complementing rental apartments started in November 2004, these Phase I homes are close to 60 percent sold.

Located on the site of the former Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) ABLA Homes, Roosevelt Square is part of the transformation of this neighborhood into a thriving, mixed-use community to be part of University Village. Other developments include University Lofts, and new police and fire stations. The development edges the University of Illinois, the Illinois Medical District and the burgeoning Taylor Street neighborhood. The new Fosco Park brings a 57,000-square-foot community center to the neighborhood, along with indoor swimming pool and outdoor water park, gymnasium, daycare facilities, community meeting space and a softball field.

Roosevelt Square's master plan reintegrates the 100-acre site with the street grid of the surrounding area. When completed, the community will total 1,351 for-sale residences and 1,090 rental apartments, including equal portions of market-rate for-sale housing, affordable rental and for-sale housing, and public-housing replacement units. The development's final phase is scheduled to reach completion by 2015.

The new community will bring a variety of attractive housing options to the area. Low-density buildings and landscaped open spaces will compliment a mix of townhouses, three- and six-flats and courtyard buildings in a variety of designs derived from traditional Chicago architecture. Condominium and townhouse sales began immediately following the 2004 groundbreaking for rental residences.

Founded in 1988, LR Development Company is a Chicago-based national developer of luxury condominiums, mixed-income communities and historic renovations.

• University Village / Ivy Hall

• University Commons

• Roosevelt Square

• University Station