Jokes about zoning and how many parking spots it takes to get a building constructed in Chicago don't go over in every crowd — but they got knowing laughs from many at the Elevated Works end-of-year celebration for community-based developers and coaches at The Starling.

Carlos, Karla and Rafa Robles, the siblings and principals of Duo Development, welcomed some 50 attendees from other Elevated Works projects and technical assistance organizations to the space, which is also home to Monday Coffee. The coffeeshop and community space at Kedzie Avenue and 16th Street is some of the first new development in the community in decades, they noted. 

Micah Taylor of Chicago Printworks and consultant Steve Vance of Cityscape Chicago team-told the story of how they worked together to receive a variance in the number of parking spots required when they rehabbed a 100-year-old building near the CTA California Green Line station, #94 bus, and Kedzie Metra station.

Chelsa Moore from Muse Community Design detailed how Muse helped St. Leonard's Ministries, a 70-year-old campus on the 2100 block of West Warren Boulevard near the CTA Damen Green Line and #20 bus that provides housing, job training and other services to people who were formerly incarcerated.

As they prepare to celebrate their 70th anniversary, St. Leonard's CEO Zack Schrantz said, the group is planning much-needed HVAC, accessibility, and other improvements to their campus. Moore and Schrantz described how Muse helped St. Leonard's organize an open house for neighbors — featuring food prepared by workers from St. Leonard's Culinary Arts program — to let them know about the plans.

Schrantz shared how the nonprofit that provides housing and job training for formerly incarcerated men went from seeing the Equitable Transit-Oriented Development support as primarily a funding source for their project to a community of expert technical assistance providers and a community of like-minded, community-based developers. "We saw the money and we went for it," Schrantz told the group. "As we got into it, we realized there was added value there."

Schrantz's comments rang true for other developers who were in the room for the end of year celebration. As Sarah Atlas from Metropolitan Planning Council put it, part of the secret to Elevated Works' success is helping developers who were new to the process to "phone a friend" and get the expertise they need on how to solve specific challenges.

Overall, some 27 community-based commercial and housing projects by new or emerging developers are part of the Elevated Works project, which is providing them with $1 million in coaching and technical assistance by 13 partners, thanks to support from the city of Chicago and local philanthropy including the MacArthur Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust.