Fifth City Commons

Fifth City Commons

Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) was selected through a competition in the spring of 2019 to develop city owned land at the corner of 5th Avenue and Kedzie as an affordable housing community with neighborhood-serving retail. The competition was implemented in cities around the world and sponsored by the C40 Network of Cities that tries to help cities tackle climate change issues.

A Note about the Project Name

As of June 2023, , the POAH team has been working to finalize C40 Garfield Park’s new name, Fifth City Commons. As many of you may know, Fifth City Commons pays reverence to the legacy of the 5th City Project and sub-neighborhood which begun a few blocks west of  the project site from the early 1960’s through today and sought to address and challenge the disinvestment the community faced (and continues to face). It is important to note that the Fifth City movement still survives today through the work of the Fifth City Child Development Institute and the leaders of the movement who are still active. We owe Dr. Meida McNeal credit for educating on this legacy through her solo performance and online exhibition, Fifth City Revisited.