Indigenous Leaders Bless Irving Park Land For City’s 1st Affordable Housing For Native Americans
IRVING PARK — The Irving Park land where a nonprofit developer will build 100-percent affordable apartments tailored to Indigenous people’s needs was blessed by Chicago’s Native American community Friday morning.
Affordable housing developer Full Circle Communities and Native American-led nonprofit Visionary Ventures are partners in the project to construct the seven-story building at 2907 W. Irving Park Road.
Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, Chicago Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda and Full Circle CEO Josh Wilmoth in a ceremony to bless the site Friday.
Construction is expected to begin once building permits are secured, and the development could be open as early as next year, officials said.
Named Jigzibik (pronounced JEEG-zee-beek) — a Potawatomi word that means “at the river’s edge” — the development will serve as a shared place for Chicago’s Native American community, though the apartments won’t be exclusively earmarked for Indigenous neighbors.
“I know our ancestors are proud that we are fulfilling and living out the dreams and hopes and expectation of a very resilient people,” Johnson said.
Unlike other groundbreaking events where a shovel is the star, this event highlighted Indigenous practices.
Negwes White of the Ojibwe and Navaho tribes performed a grass dance accompanied by the Oka Homma drum group, and tobacco leaves were burned in a wood fire pit for the ceremonial blessing of the land. Under the summer sun, the smell of wood smoke permeated the air.
A scale model of what the new housing could look like was on display during the July 11, 2025 blessing of the development site. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
The building will feature 45 affordable apartments, according to previous plans. Three units will be set aside as permanent supportive housing, providing a safe and stable home for community members transitioning out of homelessness, Castañeda said.
Amenities will include 16 parking spaces — some of which will have electric vehicle charging infrastructure — and 45 bicycle parking spots, a rooftop garden, on-site laundry, an art and maker space, fitness room, community room and kitchen, as well as culturally sensitive social services, according to the developer.
The project has been in the pipeline for about six years, but Chicago’s Indigenous community has been working toward this culturally sensitive housing since at least the 1970s, said Visionary Ventures’ Board Chair Pamala Silas.
“Housing has been one of the main issues that brought our Native community together, especially during the relocation years,” Silas said.
In 1953, the federal government got rid of most of its programs supporting Native American people. As part of this policy change, the Bureau of Indian Affairs launched a “voluntary urban relocation program” to get Indigenous people living in rural areas to move to cities like Chicago, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Cindee Fox-Starr, a member of the Omaha and Odawa tribes, tends to a fire that was used to bless the development site on July 11, 2025. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
When Indigenous people arrived in Chicago, they mainly settled in the Uptown neighborhood. But by the 1970s, gentrification led to the displacement of the Indigenous community, said Cindee Fox-Starr, a member of the Omaha and Odawa tribes.
Fox-Starr also works at American Indian Health, a nonprofit that will be offering culturally sensitive services to residents once the building is complete.
Negwes White, a grass dancer from the Ojibway & Navaho tribes, performs during the July 11, 2025 blessing of the Irving Park development site. Elected officials, the developer and community members watch the ceremonial dance that originates among the plain’s tribes.
“This is a long time coming. It’s kind of like a dream. The Three Fires People — the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi — all lived all over this area,” she said. “So for us to have a place that Natives are living in again in Chicago, it’s huge. And it’s designed with some features specifically for Native people.”
When not living on a reservation, it’s difficult for Native people to pass down the culture without space where elders can continue their teachings, Visionary Ventures President Shelly Tucciarelli previously told Block Club.
The name Jigzibik was chosen by the project’s Native American Advisory Council because of its proximity to the North Branch of the Chicago River and Horner Park, which is home to a spiraling earthen mound artwork designed by Indigenous artist Santiago X, the developers said.
“The design draws inspiration from Native traditions, using the river as a guiding metaphor,” Castañeda said.
The east-facing serrated facade is a nod to the rising sun, and other design details celebrate Chicago’s Indigenous history, she said.
“It is important to remember that the land we stand on today was and continues to be home to Native American communities,” Castañeda said. “The name Chicago and Illinois themselves are derived from the native languages. This project is a conscious effort to acknowledge that history and to ensure indigenous people have access to dignified, culturally rooted housing.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during the July 11, 2025 blessing of the Irving Park development site. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
During his remarks, Johnson praised Rodriguez-Sanchez’s leadership in moving the project forward.
Since taking office, Rodriguez-Sanchez has advocated for more affordable housing to fend off displacement due to gentrification. She shepherded a six-story affordable housing development in Albany Park named after late housing advocate Maria Elena Sifuentes.
“It feels very right for this community. It feels also like it ended up happening at a crucial moment, because we are under a federal administration that is fighting everybody that is not white,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
The Irving Park project is among 24 affordable developments that received $1 billion in city support in 2021 through highly competitive low-income housing tax credits.
The site is an empty lot that was downzoned by former Ald. Deb Mell in 2018, so the developer needed a zoning change from the alderwoman to move forward.
Though some neighbors wanted the size of the building reduced, developers were able to get the plans approved by the city, saying the proposed density would be financially feasible.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) speaks during the July 11, 2025 blessing of the Irving Park development site. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Four neighborhood groups — California Park Neighborhood Association, Horner Park Neighbors, The Residents of Irving Park and Irving Park East Neighborhood Association — unsuccessfully tried to stop the project from moving forward, arguing its height would set a precedent for future developments in the neighborhood.
In response to the neighborhood groups, Rodriguez-Sanchez argued that changing the design after winning the tax credits could jeopardize the project.
Those hurdles were overcome and now the development only needs to secure building permits to start construction, Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
“We have been able to carry this through and to bring it in a moment when it is so sorely needed, right? When aid for so many people is getting cut off, affordability is more important than ever,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
