Music flowed out of Humboldt Park United Methodist Church on Friday morning but not because there was a service.Community members were celebrating the start of work to transform the historic Logan Square structure, on the corner of Mozart Street and Shakespeare Avenue, into 22 units of affordable ho using.Led by developer Latin United Community Housing Association, the redevelopment project will ensure families will have an affordable place to live, as gentrification forces some longtime residents out of the neighborhood. The units at La Herencia Apartments will be affordable for households earning at or below 60% of the area median income. A two-person household in Chicago making 60% of the area median income would have a combined annual income of $57,600.Ten units will be “deeply affordable,” or for those earning between 15%-30% of the area median income, according to Latin United Community Housing Association.Five apartments will serve as permanent supportive housing for individuals exiting homelessness or living with developmental disabilities.The association will start redevelopment work on Monday, according to Latin United Community Housing Association Co-Executive Director Lincoln Stannard. Construction is estimated to last 12 months and cost $11 million.Friday’s groundbreaking with the developer was a full-circle moment for U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago).The Humboldt Park United Methodist Church has 12 apartments connected to the church. The congregation managed those apartments, which were affordable to residents.Ramirez was one of those residents. She lived there with her parents in one of the building’s third-floor apartments until she was seven.She reflected on how the church shaped her, and how she and others once rallied to prevent the church from being turned into condos. U.S. Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Chicago) speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the redevelopment of Humboldt Park United Methodist Church.Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times “Today is a different day. We have local elected officials, people who understand how important this corner is,” Ramirez said. “While this community has significantly changed since when I lived here, … you are now guaranteeing that Mozart [Street] and Shakespeare [Avenue] will continue to live on, even past our lifetimes, to be the corner of beacon and hope for generations to come, building permanent, affordable housing here in Logan Square, for those that are here to stay.”The city and the Chicago Department of Housing provided $7.6 million in tax credit equity and $4.7 million from housing and economic development funds, plus $2.5 million to support permanent supportive housing and decarbonization at the site, according to Department of Housing Managing Deputy Commissioner Tamra Collins. All the building’s systems will be electric, including appliances. Units will have new finishes and in-unit laundry. The redevelopment will also include a new elevator, accessible units and shared outdoor spaces.The newly-built units will be in the former church sanctuary, Stannard said. The 1928 church’s facade will be preserved, with its massive windows incorporated into new units. A balcony overseeing the nave will be extended to create a full second floor in the church building.“This church has been the site of resistance and activism against displacement and luxury housing, which many other churches have been converted into,” Stannard said. “How fitting that this place should become the very first church in the city of Chicago to become 100% affordable housing.”Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) was married in a church half a mile away from Humboldt Park United Methodist Church. But now, it’s the site of luxury apartments, he said.“There's a grief to that to me that I will never be able to show to my daughter the space that was so sacred to her mom and dad,” La Spata said. “Someday soon, I'll be able to walk with her past [La Herencia Apartments] and say, this [is] home for the people that we care about, who would otherwise be lost from this building.” ...read more read less