McLaurin Wins City Approval for $70M Bronzeville Grocery Project

The Chicago Plan Commission approved McLaurin Development Partners’ $70 million mixed-use plan for the former Stateway Gardens site in Bronzeville on August 20, clearing the way for a grocery store neighbors have been promised since 2018. The project now moves to the City Council’s Zoning Committee, then a full council vote, before McLaurin can close on the roughly 11-acre site at 3700 to 4000 South State Street.

Why it matters

For developers, this is a case study in how long a grocery-anchored entitlement can take even with strong political backing. Zeb McLaurin’s firm has carried the Pete’s Fresh Market commitment through six years of delays, financing gaps and community pressure before reaching Plan Commission approval, and it still faces two more votes before site control closes. The filing amends and expands Business Planned Development 1143 into two subareas under the applicant entity P.S. Bronzeville LLC, splitting commercial uses (grocery, medical office, neighborhood retail, restaurants and financial services) from a residential subarea capped at a 3.0 floor area ratio. That structure gives McLaurin flexibility to phase the grocery ahead of the housing, a sequencing move other developers chasing anchor-tenant credibility on vacant public-housing sites should note.

The numbers

The plan pairs a 70,000-square-foot Pete’s Fresh Market with up to 551 multifamily units and a medical office component on the roughly 11-acre parcel in the Grand Boulevard community area, a short walk from the Chicago market’s South Side transit corridor. The developer projects roughly 200 permanent jobs from the retail and medical uses plus 150 temporary construction jobs. Construction is expected to start in early 2027 and run through the third quarter of 2028, assuming City Council clears the remaining zoning approvals on schedule.

What’s next

The Zoning Committee still has to vote before the full City Council takes up the rezoning, and McLaurin has not yet closed on the land. Watch for whether the grocery component breaks ground on its own faster timeline than the residential towers, given how many prior years this site sat vacant on a grocery promise alone.