Camiros helped celebrate the much-heralded arrival of the Whole Foods Englewood store, located at 63^rd and Halsted Streets, which opened its doors Wednesday, September 28^th at 9AM. Before the grand opening, a Community Partner Appreciation Dinner was held at Sikia Restaurant, located across Halsted Street from the Whole Foods store. The event, attended by Camiros Principal, Bill James, brought together the diverse group of community partners involved in realizing the dream of a Whole Foods store in Englewood. Partners in attendance included community leaders, the developer, Whole Foods officials, and representatives from the City of Chicago.

Camiros was part of the original design team retained by the developer, DLK Realty, to reinvent the site of the former Englewood Mall as a modern retail center, known as Englewood Square. Camiros contributed site plan concepts and landscape plans that demonstrated the viability of the site as a retail center, which were used to recruit Whole Foods to the site.

Camiros is involved in other community initiatives in Englewood. Camiros and Kathy Brown Associates are working with Alderman Toni Foulkes (16^th Ward) to gain support for the 63^rd Street Corridor Plan, which would build upon the momentum generated by Whole Foods to focus investment westward along 63^rd Street. The portion of 63^rd Street between Halsted Street and Ashland Avenue is well suited for transit-oriented development, having Green Line stations located one-half block to the south at both key intersections. Alderman Foulkes’ vision would include the adaptive reuse of older buildings that embody the heritage of Englewood, as well as promoting new mixed-use development on vacant land.

In addition, Camiros is also working with Alderman Foulkes to bring mixed-use development to City-owned land on Halsted Street immediately north of Englewood Square, on both the east and west sides of the street. Camiros and Kathy Brown Associates have assisted in recruiting Columbus, OH-based developer KBK Development, Inc. to submit a proposal for development to the City of Chicago, which calls for approximately 275 residential units and 75,000 square feet of retail space. This major project would follow the Whole Foods/Englewood Square development and represent the next stage of investment in the rebirth of the Englewood Community.

(Image Source: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-whole-foods-englewood-opening-0929-biz-20160928-story.html)

Camiros Principal Adam Rosa will be speaking at the upcoming Annual Conference of the Mississippi and Alabama Chapters of APA on Thursday, September 15. The session, entitled Southside Revitalizations: Planning for Mixed-Income Development in Mobile and Birmingham, will discuss efforts being undertaken by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District (HABD) and the Mobile Housing Board (MHB) to improve the Southside neighborhoods of each city though the revitalization and reinvestment in aging public housing complexes, coupled with neighborhood improvement strategies and people projects that will help to connect residents to opportunity (click HERE to view the project). Key takeaways will include:

• Helping planners recognize the unique culture and history of a changing neighborhood through out-of-the-box community engagement techniques (and lessons learned)
• Discussing how to build trust in underserved neighborhoods that have a memory of the negative effects of urban renewal in order to create positive community-based change
• Describing how to build capacity and enthusiasm among public housing residents so that they can take ownership of the plan
• Discussing how collaboration between the public housing authority, City and other key partners are essential to connecting the dots on people, housing and neighborhood strategies

For more information on the Conference, please click here: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53f6979ae4b05c22548c6a97/t/57d2b2d0725e255de6c679e3/1473426131523/Biloxi+Program+FINAL+READ+ORDER.pdf