Nia Architects

Nia has extensive experience working on multi-family housing projects in the City of Chicago and throughout the Chicagoland area.

Market-Rate Housing

Market-rate, multi-family housing, whether new construction or renovations, can be very competitive. Consequently, Architects and designers need to know the technologies and amenities offered in such properties. Nia’s strong design abilities, combined with the firm’s keen understanding of building technologies, make us perfect for the job.

Affordable Housing 

Nia has a strong history of working with developers on CHA, IHDA, and other affordable housing projects. As a result, We understand the different regulatory requirements needed on both 100% affordable and mixed-income residential projects, whether they be renovations or new construction.

Mixed-Income Housing

The onset of the City of Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) requires any market-rate housing project seeking a zoning change to offer some affordable housing units. Consequently, virtually all large-scale market-rate housing project in the City of Chicago is now mixed-income housing.

Multi-Family Housing Renovations

Nia has worked with CHA and various developers to renovate numerous multi-family housing projects throughout the City of Chicago. These projects produce innumerable challenges ranging from older building equipment to how to handle on-going residents. However, Nia and our strong team of consultants appreciate the value of respectfully renovating existing buildings.

Mixed-Use Projects

Today, the majority of multi-family housing projects in the City of Chicago are mixed-use projects. Consequently, Nia has a strong history of developing mixed-use projects throughout various neighborhoods in the city.

Transit-Oriented Developments

Transit-Oriented Developments or TODs have drastically increased in the City of Chicago in recent years because of the new TOD ordinances. The TOD ordinances allow developers to increase their buildings’ size without adding significant increases to parking as long the building is within a certain distance of CTA train stops, Metra stops, and some CTA bus stops.

Nia’s architects are experts at understanding the requirements and the processes needed to get these types of projects built.