Courtyard Urbanist | Chicago Design + Pro Forma

BRONZEVILLE · INTERACTIVE DESIGN STUDIES

Current four-story design · recessed corner loggias and planted courtyard.

Four-story courtyard housing · schematic proposal · RM-6 · 16,000 sf lot

Bronzeville · R4.9-W1-D1

4200 S. Indiana

Total homes: 32
Family homes: 24
Floor area: 34,214 sf
Efficiency: 91.9%

Area definitions and family-home evidence

Area basis

Enclosed gross floor area (GFA): 34,214 sf
Nonparking residential gross: 34,214 sf
Gross apartment allocations: 31,456 sf
Open galleries, loggias and exterior stairs: 3,990 sf
Total modeled floor area, enclosed + open: 38,204 sf
Measured net sellable area: To be verified
Net sellable / residential-gross efficiency: To be verified

The enclosed total includes common cores and building services. Open space is listed separately. No parking floor area is modeled. Apartment allocations include internal partitions and are not measured net sellable area. Statutory GFA/FAR treatment remains subject to planning review.

What counts as a family home

A home must have at least two bedrooms and confirmed windows on opposing exterior fronts. Bedroom targets alone do not establish the count.

21 upper-floor homes and G-C1, G-C2 and G-D1 have two or more drawn bedrooms and windows on opposing exterior fronts. Studies are excluded. Confirmed at schematic-plan level; bedroom qualification remains subject to design review.

No additional plan input is needed for this schematic count. Final room dimensions and legal bedroom qualification remain to be confirmed.

Inspect the plans ↗ · Read the metric evidence ↗

Aerial view of a red-brick courtyard apartment building with landscaped gardens and tree-lined neighborhood streets.

4200 South Indiana · Bronzeville, Chicago

Four stories. A walk-up courtyard.

Sculpted tree entrances, canted oriel windows and a layered cornice give this courtyard housing proposal a distinctive street presence. Recessed corner loggias overlook the neighborhood, while a planted garden offers room to gather and play.

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Interactive 3D siteDrag to rotate · scroll to zoom · click a building

Four-story courtyard housing. Floor plans ↗ · Architectural views ↗

Stories: 4
Schematic homes: 32
Gallery / floor: 780 sf
Window recess: 10 in
Corner loggias: 3

A garden at the heart of the block

Lawn and planted borders surround a sandbox, three raised garden beds and two picnic tables. Open galleries connect the homes to the stairs. This four-story walk-up has eight ground-floor homes; step-free access and accessible layouts remain under review. Regularly spaced windows bring rhythm to Indiana Avenue, and windowed alley and courtyard walls give the homes several outlooks.

Explore the architecture ↗

Schematic proposal. Dimensions and home counts are preliminary. Survey, parcel, egress, accessibility, daylight, structural and planning reviews remain outstanding. Construction pricing and financing are not established.

4200 S. Indiana

32 homes in a four-story walk-up, with courtyard galleries and recessed corner loggias. The lift shaft and dedicated landing are removed; equipment and operating allowances start at zero. Ground-floor accessibility and detailed construction pricing remain under review. Changes stay in this session until you export or save a scenario.

Linked to this design

Live pro forma

Live

Doesn’t pencil under these assumptions

Homes: 32
Total development cost: $13.28M
Annual net operating income: $495,988
Debt coverage: 0.76×

Modeled cost gap$4.89M

36.9% of total cost. Cost reduction at fixed rents and loan terms.

Try a change

StoriesBuilding construction / gross sf2-bedroom rent / month

Press Enter or leave a field to update. Other inputs stay fixed.

Building construction only: $275 × 34,214 gross enclosed sf = $9,408,850.

What does $200/sf mean?

The construction rate applies to all enclosed floors, including walls and common cores. It is one part of the development budget.

Exterior loggias and stairs, site work, soft costs, contingency and land are budgeted separately. Construction finance and fees must fit within the rental soft-cost allowance.

At $200/gross sf: enclosed-building construction is $6,842,800. With the other current inputs, total development cost is $9,992,839.

$275/gross sf is the starting construction assumption. The $200/gross sf scenario explores developer-reported costs for frequently repeated designs and integrated supply chains. Neither is a contractor bid for these proposals; reported costs need the same scope and area basis to be comparable.

Illustrative concept. Bids, rents, room fit and approvals remain unverified.

Full pro forma & assumptions Cash flow, costs, financing and sensitivity

2 · Check the numbers

Make it pencil

Doesn’t pencil yet

At the current rents, the budget needs to fall by $4.89m to meet all three checks below.

Debt coverage Study target: 1.20×: 0.76×
Annual cash flow After debt + replacement reserves: -$169,804
Value less total cost At the 5.5% cap-rate assumption: -$4,259,419

Enclosed construction target$163.25 / gross sf or less

Current assumption: $275 / gross sf. Debt coverage sets the tightest limit.

Other ways to close the gap

Higher market rents

An equal $907/month increase across 28 market homes would meet these checks with costs unchanged. The 2-bedroom assumption would become $3,107/month. Affordable rents stay fixed.

Less debt

Replacing $3.18m of the loan with additional equity or confirmed subsidy would cover debt and reserves. It still leaves a $4.26m cost-over-value gap.

Lower land cost

The current $467,335 land allowance cannot close a $4.89m budget gap on its own.

Each route changes one lever at a time. Don’t add these reductions together. These are targets for investigation, not market evidence or committed funding.

Development review · costs, income & lender checks

These tests use your current inputs without changing the saved concept. A smaller gap is an improvement; it is not an approved budget or loan.

Test	Homes	NOI DSCR	Remaining cost gap
Construction −10%Enclosed construction rate only; bid target, not assumed savings.	32	0.83×	$3,689,432
Construction −20%Enclosed construction rate only; all other inputs held fixed.	32	0.93×	$2,485,099
Market rents +10%Sensitivity only; needs comparables. Affordable rents stay fixed.	32	0.86×	$3,735,682
Cost −15% + market rents +10%Combined test, not a forecast or contractor quote.	32	1.00×	$1,929,183
No ground-floor rentGround homes excluded; baseline construction cost retained. This measures income at risk.	24	0.55×	$7,233,121
10% affordable-home testRounded up to whole homes using existing placeholder rents; mix and City terms unverified.	32	0.76×	$4,893,765

Separate lender screen

At a 1.25× test using income after replacement reserves, with an 80% loan-to-value ceiling, supported debt is $5,113,247. This requires $3,517,052 more equity or confirmed funding than the current loan assumption. Cost-over-value and investor return still need resolution.

These screening thresholds reference Fannie Mae’s conventional stabilized-property term sheet; they are not a construction-loan offer. Actual lender income adjustments, rate floor, eligibility and terms may differ. The main 1.20× study above is unchanged.

Illustrative rental underwriting. Same unit mix, rents, 65% loan-to-cost and debt terms. No contractor savings, grants or tax credits assumed. Lender loan-to-value limits are tested separately in Development review. Passing these checks does not establish an equity return, code approval or a viable sale/condo project.

Project workbook Current scenario data

Model data

Take the numbers with you.

Download the selected site's current assumptions, areas and calculated results. CSV files open in Excel, Google Sheets and other spreadsheet applications.

The export reflects the inputs currently shown above.

Adjust assumptions & review details

A · West 42nd Street house

2 homes per floor · fixed schematic allocation

1,775 sf apartment allowance. Current schematic envelope.

B · Middle 42nd Street house

2 homes per floor · fixed schematic allocation

1,780 sf apartment allowance. Current schematic envelope.

C · Corner homes

2 homes per floor · fixed schematic allocation

2,150 sf apartment allowance. Current schematic envelope.

D · South Indiana house

2 homes per floor · fixed schematic allocation

2,236 sf apartment allowance. Current schematic envelope.

Home rows show market rent assumptions. The project total applies the affordable-rent adjustment separately; specific affordable homes have not been assigned.

Home	Gross apartment area	Bedroom target	Market rent assumption / month	Homes across 3 typical floors
	885.0 sf		$2,200	3
	890.0 sf		$2,200	3
	890.0 sf		$2,200	3
	890.0 sf		$2,200	3
	1,008.0 sf		$2,200	3
	1,142.0 sf		$2,200	3
	1,243.0 sf		$2,700	3
	993.0 sf		$1,700	3
8 / floor	7,941.0 sf / floor	Room fit pending	$66,350 / project month, after affordable adjustment	24 homes on typical floors

Separate ground-floor schedule

8 concept homes; common entrances and services excluded. Gross areas include internal partitions. Bedroom targets and Type A clearances remain subject to room fit.

Home	Gross area	Program	Market rent assumption / month
G-A1	813.0 sf	1BD · 1 full bath + powder	$1,700
G-A2	839.0 sf	1BD · 1 full bath + powder	$1,700
G-B1	818.0 sf	1BD · 1 full bath + powder	$1,700
G-B2	839.0 sf	1BD · 1 full bath + powder	$1,700
G-C1	1,008.0 sf	2BD · 2 full bath	$2,200
G-C2	1,192.0 sf	2BD · 2 full bath	$2,200
G-D1	1,277.0 sf	3BD · 2 full bath	$2,700
G-D2	847.0 sf	1BD · 1 full bath + powder	$1,700

32 total homes · 983.0 sf project average.