Where’s the Master Plan for Bryn Mawr redevelopment?
By Jack Markowski, former Commissioner, Chicago Department of Housing - News Star - Jun 25, 2025 (pdf)
The seemingly endless construction of the CTA’s Red/Purple Line Modernization Project is finally reaching completion of its current phase. After years of major disruption, the Edgewater community is looking forward to a return to normalcy.
In Edgewater, the most significant disruption has occurred in the area between Bryn Mawr and Hollywood, including the Bryn Mawr National Historic District. Over the past several years, CTA has used three different sites in this area to stage construction. As a result of the construction activity, the number of retail customers has greatly declined, many restaurants and stores have closed, and others are struggling to survive.
This is Edgewater’s historic downtown, and it needs help.
With the CTA finishing construction, we have a unique opportunity to rebuild our city center. We should build a multipurpose mixed-use development extending from Bryn Mawr to Hollywood, from the new El tracks to Broadway. The southern end of the development should be designed to preserve, enhance, and strengthen the heritage buildings that contribute to the Bryn Mawr National Historic District.
The east side, including the land under the El, should integrate with the new Bryn Mawr station.
The Broadway facing portion of the site can provide commercial destination services and activities (such as a state-of-the-art multiplex movie theatre or entertainment center) combined with hundreds of units of mixed-income housing.
This is a concept that could excite and coalesce the Edgewater community. Having access to such a large piece of land in such an ideal location is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But it requires political leadership to develop and implement this vision.
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood,” said Daniel Burnham. Incredibly, there is no master plan driving the Bryn Mawr/Hollywood redevelopment.
Instead of leading a comprehensive planning effort to rebuild Edgewater’s downtown, Ald. Manaa-Hoppenworth [48th] is spending her time promoting an unpopular and poorly conceived, blanket upzoning of all of Broadway, an idea that threatens the affordability and viability of scores of longtime businesses.
Rather than pursuing a comprehensive, unified vision for Bryn Mawr/Hollywood/Broadway, it now looks like the CTA and/or the City will issue three independent Requests for Proposals for the three publicly owned sites that will be available. Supposedly, Mayor Johnson’s concept of Green Social Housing will be utilized on at least one of the sites. (It should be noted that Green Social Housing is primarily a financing mechanism for a particular building; it is not a redevelopment plan.)
Whatever the outcome of this disjointed, small-thinking approach, it will be less than what could have been achieved with a unified vision for the redevelopment of Edgewater’s downtown –a squandered opportunity.
At this time, the City and CTA should not issue RFPs for the redevelopment of the three individual sites. Instead, the City and Manaa-Hoppenworth should accept the challenge of this unique opportunity and should lead a community process to create a master plan for the redevelopment of our Bryn Mawr/Hollywood/Broadway community center.