Chicago Illinois Real Estate Blog

The Negro League Cafe is a tribute to the baseball league’s players. (Tribune photo by Terrence Antonio James / June 16, 2008)
Upscale dining, Isaac Hayes singing in Washington Park, new art galleries and front-row seats to the Bud Billiken parade are just some of the amenities available to residents in historic Bronzeville on the city’s South Side.

Besides being in close proximity to Chicago’s downtown, the McCormick Place, Lake Michigan and several of the city’s expressways, moving to the up-and-coming area makes for a smart investment, said Aaron McDonald, real estate agent for Genesys Realty Group.

Once the equivalent of New York’s Harlem during the Jazz Age, Bronzeville has a rich history as a vibrant center of African-American culture from the turn of the 20th Century until the 1960s, when the neighborhood fell into decline. The name Bronzeville refers to the skin color of African-Americans who migrated to the area from the South and was first used by James Gentry, an editor for the Chicago Bee.

Today, amid the renovated graystones and brownstones, Bronzeville is witnessing revitalization efforts.

Where 35th and State Streets meet rests a snapshot of what the neighborhood will look like in the next few years. Just steps away from U.S. Cellular Field sit newly constructed condos, townhouses and single-family homes that blend in with a trendy Starbucks and Jimmy John’s sandwich shop.

The lakefront community sits minutes away from Chicago’s major highways, including Interstate 55, Interstate 90 and 94, and Interstate 290. Residents can easily jump on the No. 4 Cottage Grove bus, the No. 3 King Drive bus or the Green Line train to head downtown.

About five years ago, neighborhood liquor stores and greasy spoons were just as much a fixture on State Street as were the Robert Taylor Homes and Stateway Gardens housing projects. Now several of those businesses are boarded up and vast stretches of empty fields await development.

“Although the housing market in historical Bronzeville mirrors the nations recent downturns, new development continues to be built and buyers are looking in full force to purchase new construction, gut-rehab graystones and state-of-the-art condos,” said McDonald. While the market in Bronzeville may appear to be oversaturated with new development and foreclosed properties, McDonald said its an opportune time for buyers to catch great deals.
Source