Project of the Year Feature: Residential

January 25, 2026

BURR RIDGE – CISCO’s 6th 2025 Project of the Year Feature is the top choice of Residential, which is the Sheffield of Lincoln Park. The general contractor was Leopardo/UJAMAA JV; the client was Chicago Housing Authority.

When considering submissions, judging criteria is based on: quality of construction, design, impact on the community and safety record.

Sheffield of Lincoln Park is a 365,000-SF redevelopment of Edith Spurlock Sampson Apartments, two senior housing towers originally built in the 1960s. The project also included the addition of a 120,000-SF, six-story connecting “bridge” building with 80 family units, bringing the complex’s total units to 485. The addition also includes two amenity floors with exterior courtyard, reception area, community bike storage, mail and package pickup, activity room, outdoor porch, tenant storage, gym with cardio and weight rooms, as well as a party room. Standout features of the building’s design include the multi-toned rain screen facade, floor-to-ceiling recessed windows, and cantilevering concrete balconies.

The new complex serves as a community hub with its amenities tailored to activities, gatherings, and community meetings. The building’s large activity and dining area supports Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)’s Golden Diners program, where residents can connect over meals and health programs. With fitness centers and lounge areas linked by two new pedestrian bridges, residents can access amenities between the buildings while remaining indoors, which is a critical component considering the severity of Chicago winters.

The project has transformed the site into a mixed-income, multi-generational community, and is considered first of its kind, intended as the “new flagship model” that CHA envisions for future projects. The property caters to both senior citizens and residents who will benefit from affordable housing, while the community will benefit from the diversity of residents currently applying for residency.

Leopardo’s team of preconstruction and estimating experts helped guide the project through a complex field of material procurement and project funding, laying the groundwork long before breaking ground in 2021. Materials with long lead times were identified up front and construction was adroitly scheduled around those times to ensure no delays. Leopardo also utilized its in-house team of Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) experts to create models of the building that helped ensure accuracy and prevent delays before they happened.

Thanks to its deep roots and extensive experience serving as a general contractor in the Chicago market, Leopardo has relationships with minority- and women-owned general contractors and subcontractors. With deeply rooted family values and a strong internal culture celebrating diversity, equity, and inclusion, Leopardo revels in the opportunity to work alongside, build up, and learn from minority business enterprises and women business enterprises.

Working together with Leopardo, the minority GC partner can build their resume by working on bigger, more complicated projects than they would be able to on their own, and working with a minority GC gives Leopardo the opportunity to work alongside good partners and learn from them as well. Sheffield of Lincoln Park was developed through a joint venture partnership between PIRHL and the Chicago Housing Authority, while Leopardo Construction and MBE contractor UJAMAA Construction worked together in a joint venture as the general contractor for the project (Leopardo/UJAMAA JV).

This joint venture has proved incredibly beneficial to both Leopardo and UJAMAA, as well as the city of Chicago and its communities; and the JV team is currently working on a new project in the construction of the Sankofa Wellness Center – a ground up new construction of a three-story, 55,530-SF building at the corner of West Madison Street and South Kildare Avenue in Chicago, which will feature spaces dedicated to providing comprehensive healthcare and financial wellness as well as other support services such as career coaching and early childhood education. All MBE, WEB, and city percentage goals were either met or exceeded on the project.

This project had a customized safety plan and QR-code based safety orientation that allowed for immediate access to project safety information. Rather than a traditional “toolbox talk” style training, the project teams engaged in a 5-question quiz to determine how well they know that week’s safety topics.  Scores are utilized to follow-up as appropriate. Weekly safety visits were conducted by the Leopardo safety team to provide a new perspective and share recent news from other sites. The Leopardo safety team also engaged with the weekly pull planning process to help with safety planning efforts. This project had zero incidents.

The project has since earned the 2024 Illinois RE Journal Real Estate Project of the Year Award or Affordable Housing. This annual real estate awards competition celebrates the achievements, successes, and highlights of all sectors of the commercial real estate industry.