"This is a very competitive grant program," a HUD spokesman tells GlobeSt.com. "Applicants have to have an outstanding redevelopment plan and be able to demonstrate that they have the ability to do what they say they want to do. There are complexities when you talk about rehabbing distressed public housing, and this is about revitalizing an entire public housing development." The spokesman declined to release a budget or timeline for the project, and CHA representatives did not return calls for comment.

The spokesman says complexities include relocating the families which occupied the original housing, and transitioning them into a voucher program. The spokesman says Chicago's plan has been very successful in doing that in the development process so far. The spokesman says the old Stateway has already been demolished and the CHA will now begin the second phase of the project and new construction at the planned mixed-income community.

When completed, Park Boulevard is planned to offer 439 markets rate units, 437 affordable housing units and 439 public housing units, according to the CHA's Web site. The development will also include a Stateway Park and field house with basketball courts, a swimming pool and rooms available for childcare services and community meetings. The original 33-acre Stateway site was built in 1958 and consisted of eight high-rise buildings which accounted for 1,644 public housing units, according to the CHA.