Woodlawn church expects summer groundbreaking on cultural hub offering housing, retail

A sprawling Woodlawn development that aims to be a hub for the Black community could soon start, at a time when other projects in the neighborhood like the Obama Presidential Center take off.

Developer J. Byron Brazier applied for a zoning change last month for his project Woodlawn Central, which would turn the land surrounding the Apostolic Church of God into a mixed-use district that celebrates Black culture — and Woodlawn. Brazier is the son of the church's pastor, Rev. Byron Brazier.

The application, introduced to the Chicago City Council on Wednesday, kick-starts the approval process for a project unveiled in 2021. At the time, Brazier described the project as an “indigenous location” for Black culture in the face of gentrification.

Woodlawn Central’s first phase will need approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, before it goes to the City Council and its Zoning committee.

Brazier said the team anticipates going before the Plan Commission in March. If given all the necessary approvals, he hopes to break ground on the first phase in August.

“It says a lot about the dedication of the church to the community, dedication from our family to the community and just, overall, the need to not just have housing but to also have jobs,” Brazier said.

Woodlawn Central will span about 8 acres surrounding the church. The land, clustered around 63rd Street and Dorchester Avenue, has been used by the church for parking.

The plan includes a technology center, hotel, commercial business spaces, theater and residential buildings, according to initial plans. It also includes a vertical farm at Kenwood Avenue and 63rd Street, built atop a parking structure.

The development team described Woodlawn Central as “a walkable, transit-oriented district composed of housing, street-level retail and cultural spaces, business incubation and community-serving facilities,” in plans submitted last month.

Phase one will be built along Dorchester Avenue and consist of two towers above a large parking podium. There will be 231 apartments, a hotel, commercial and retail spaces and 300 parking spaces.

Woodlawn Central will have affordable units on-site under the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance and options for renters across all income levels. The developers have said senior living would be included in the project.

The housing will allow for multigenerational living and center local residents, according to the plans. There are no tenants announced for the commercial and office spaces yet, but developers have previously said they want to support Black-owned businesses. They also want to offer creative spaces that support entrepreneurship, arts, and local ownership.

Brazier said the investment is still an estimated $800 million — a revised figure from the initial $600 million. The project's price rose in 2022, as construction costs rose. Gensler is the architect.

The Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave., has been in Woodlawn for more than 70 years.

The transformation around the church will extend and celebrate the legacy of Brazier’s late grandfather, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, a community activist who led the church for more than 40 years before retiring in 2008.

The project’s leaders are aware of the gentrification concerns that have been bubbling in the neighborhood for years. The Obama Presidential Center, set to open in June, has some residents fearful of displacement, along with rent hikes that some say have already started.

The city-approved hotel near the presidential center — pitched by Allison Davis, former President Barack Obama’s first boss out of Harvard Law School — has only amplified those fears among some residents. The announcement of the hotel drew a protest in April 2025, where community members urged City Council to vote down the proposal. Meanwhile, Davis owes the city millions in unpaid bills and fines.

Brazier said Woodlawn Central hopes to be a good neighbor. But he’s cognizant of how Woodlawn will be impacted by the presidential center’s opening.

“With the Obama center coming up, we know that there's going to be need for lodging; there's going to be need for other cultural aspects,” Brazier said. “We're looking at trying to have some semblance of connectivity, but letting the Obama center and its opening breathe and having its time. I think part of the stewardship of being good friends and neighbors is not trying to overshadow or trying to do too much at one time.”