The Marshall Field Garden Apartments is a large non-governmental

subsidized housing Subsidized housing is a subsidy aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include d ...

project in the Near North Side neighborhood of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. The

project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

occupies two square city blocks and was the largest moderate-income housing development in the U.S. at the time of construction in 1929. Marshall Field Garden Apartments has 628 units within 10 buildings.

Polo G Taurus Tremani Bartlett (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence with his singles " Finer Things" and " Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). His debut album '' Die a Legend'' (2019) peaked a ...

lived in the project in his youth.

History

The project was developed by the estate of

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field's, Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of qua ...

, entrepreneur and founder of the Chicago

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (colloquially Marshall Field's) was an American department store chain founded in 1852 by Potter Palmer. It was based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, ...

department store chain. The project was directed by

Marshall Field III Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field's, Marshall Field departmen ...

. Its aim was not only to provide housing at a reasonable cost but also to provide a catalyst for renewal of the surrounding area. Marshall Field Garden Apartments was at the time of construction one of two large philanthropic housing developments in Chicago. The other was

Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments Rosenwald Court Apartments (also known as Rosenwald Courts or the Rosenwald Apartments; formerly known as Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments) is a large apartment building located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago, ...

, at 47th and Michigan. Both were built in 1929 and both were modeled after the

Dunbar Apartments The Dunbar Apartments, also known as the Paul Laurence Dunbar Garden Apartments or Dunbar Garden Apartments, is a complex of buildings located on West 149th and West 150th Streets between Frederick Douglass Boulevard/Macombs Place and Adam Cla ...

built by

John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fifth child and only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of th ...

, in 1926 in

Harlem, New York City Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

. Marshall Field Garden Apartments was meant to be the first of three or four similar projects, but the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

kept those plans from coming to fruition. Marshall had hoped to provide low cost housing but land acquisition and construction cost overruns pushed the rent into the moderate range. By 1991, the apartments had deteriorated, and were sold to private investors in 1992 with a clause that specified that they would remain available only to low income tenants for 25 years. In 2016, the apartments were sold to Related Midwest, and in a public-private partnership agreement plan to keep the units affordable until 2045. Shortly after purchasing the apartments, Related Midwest hired local architecture firm

Nia Architects NIA, Nia, or nia may refer to: * Nia (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Nia (fitness), a type of aerobic exercise * Nia (charity), a women's aid organisation based in London * NIA, a spanish salsa singer * ''Nia ...

to renovate and update the historic buildings.

Location

Marshall Field Garden Apartments is located on 1450 North Sedgwick in Chicago, Illinois 60610. Marshall Field Gardens Apartments is a populated place located in Cook County at a latitude of 41.908 and longitude -87.639. The elevation is 594 feet. Marshall Field Garden Apartments appears on the Chicago Loop U.S. Geological Survey Map. Cook County is the Central Time Zone (UTC -6 hours) which Marshall Fields Gardens Apartments have.

Security and Maintenance

Blocked entrance at Marshall field garden apartments

A controversial security system was installed in 1999 to control access and provide valuable investigative information, using

biometric device A biometric device is a security identification and authentication device. Such devices use automated methods of verifying or recognising the identity of a living person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. These characteristic ...

s. The apartments are the scene of frequent shootings. In 2016, an electrified copper rod attached to the building killed a dog that a man was walking by the building and electrocuted the man.

References

External links

University of Chicago Archive

HUD Profile

Hometown Locator

Writeup on Security System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Marshall Garden Apartments Apartment buildings in Chicago Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Public housing in Chicago

History

Location

Security and Maintenance

See also

References

External links