Pullman Artspace Lofts
Pullman Artspace Lofts, a mixed-use affordable live/ work space for artists and their families, is being developed in partnership with Artspace Projects, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, and PullmanArts. The Development Team has chosen a site located on Langley Avenue, just south of 111th Street, consisting of approximately 18,500 square feet of vacant land book-ended by two historic apartment buildings. It provides the opportunity to integrate historic preservation with cutting edge new construction and create an iconic group of buildings that anchor Pullman’s eastern boundary. The project will include 38 affordable live/work units, exhibition space, and ample community space.
Originally developed as worker housing for the Pullman Company, the neighborhood was divested from the Company by court order in 1907. Since then, Pullman has been largely a working class Chicago neighborhood. In the late 1960s, a local chamber of commerce proposed razing south Pullman in favor of a light industrial park. Local residents, organized by the Pullman Civic Organization, responded by securing city, state and national historic landmark status to save their community.
Pullman has attracted significant attention to protect and promote its historic assets. On February 19, 2015 President Obama designated the Pullman Historic District a national monument. The goal of the Pullman Historic District is to preserve and interpret the significant labor, industrial, social, civil rights and architectural history associated with the Pullman legacy.
Among Chicago’s 50 city landmark districts, Pullman is the only one that also enjoys state and national landmark status. It is the only one anchored by a state historic site. One of the oldest landmark districts in Chicago, it is, by a significant margin, the largest – fully 10 percent of all city landmark properties are in Pullman. Each year, more than 50,000 visitors come to Pullman for its annual House Tour, Garden Walk, state historic site events, guided and self-guided tours. Pullman is also garnering recognition as a unique place to live and work. In 2011, Pullman was designated one of the country’s 10 Great Neighborhoods by the American Planning Association.
