Barrett Homes Secures Approval for 40-Unit Mixed-Use Project in Chicago

• Barrett Homes wins Chicago City Council approval for a 4-story, 40-unit mixed-use building at 2652 W. Chicago Ave, on the Ukrainian Village–Humboldt Park border
• The project replaces a demolished Advance Auto Parts; groundbreaking targeted for summer 2026
• 1,680 SF of ground-floor retail, 22 one-beds / 14 two-beds / 4 three-beds, 6 affordable units, 23 parking spaces
• Rezoned from C1-2 to B2-3 after multiple community meetings; developer scaled back from an original 5-story, 57-unit proposal

From Auto Parts to Apartments on W. Chicago Ave

The Advance Auto Parts that anchored the northeast corner of W. Chicago Ave and N. Washtenaw Ave is already gone. Barrett Homes, the Chicago boutique developer, has now cleared the last hurdle to replace it: a Chicago City Council vote approving the project and the underlying rezone from C1-2 to B2-3.

The building rises four stories and holds 40 apartments: 22 one-bedrooms, 14 two-bedrooms, and four three-bedrooms with 1,680 square feet of ground-floor retail facing W. Chicago Ave. Six of the 40 units are set aside as affordable. Designed by 360 Design Studio, the building parks 23 cars and 48 bikes on-site, with the garage tucked into the back half of the ground floor and the retail and residential entry facing the avenue.

A Long Road from 57 Units to 40

The project that won approval looks different from the one Barrett Homes first pitched. The original proposal, filed in mid-2025, called for a five-story building with 57 units and 24 parking spaces. Nearly every neighbor who showed up to the first community meeting objected to the height and the parking count was the main flashpoint.

Alderman Carlos Villegas sent Barrett back to the drawing board. What came back was leaner: one story shorter, 17 fewer units, and one additional parking space. Villegas announced his support in February 2026, the Zoning Committee advanced it in May, and the City Council confirmed it shortly after.

The ground floor plan reflects the negotiation. Four apartments occupy the W. Chicago Ave and N. Washtenaw Ave frontage alongside the retail space, keeping street-level activation intact while the upper floors stack 11, 12, and 13 units respectively. Select units get private balconies.

Why the W. Chicago Corridor, Why Now

The Ukrainian Village–Humboldt Park border has been quietly drawing developer attention as rents in the core of Ukrainian Village have pushed two-bedroom asking prices toward $2,200–$2,500 a month, up roughly 5–7% annually in recent years. W. Chicago Ave, the commercial spine connecting Ukrainian Village to Humboldt Park to the west, is where that pressure meets underutilized commercial parcels, surface lots, auto-service uses, and single-story retail that are ripe for mixed-use infill.

Barrett Homes, founded in 2004 and led by John (MBA in Real Estate Finance from DePaul's Kellstadt GSB) and Mike (Construction Management from Purdue), has built its book primarily in Chicago's near-north neighborhoods, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and Roscoe Village, focusing on smaller boutique residential projects. The 40-unit Ukrainian Village building is among the larger and more westward bets the firm has made.

What's Next

With the rezone recorded and demo complete, Barrett Homes is targeting a summer 2026 groundbreaking. If the timeline holds, the building delivers a meaningful addition of rental supply to a corridor where new construction has been sparse, and community opposition has historically trimmed projects before they break ground.