CHICAGO-The next phase of the $183 million redevelopment of the infamous Ida B. Wells Homes projects is moving forward. Lead developer Community Builders has hired Rosemont, IL-based McShane Construction Co. to build an 89,630-square-foot apartment and medical office building at the 94-acre site in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side.

The former housing project was built starting in 1939, had held more than 3,500 low-income units, and was rife with crime and drug dealing. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, through the Chicago Housing Authority, demolished the former towers and row houses at the site at Martin Luther King Dr. and 37^th Street, finishing in August 2011.

The authority’s Plan for Transformation began the Oakwood Shores project, building mixed-income units at the site in 2003, with the help of city, state and federal grants and incentives. The property now holds about 675 apartments and 75 for-sale homes. The six-story McShane project, called Oakwood Shores Terrace Apartments, is the next phase, and will include 48 apartment units, 36 of which are affordable housing, with a 28,000-square-foot medical office on the first two floors. Mercy Hospital and Medical Center will operate the medical portion.