Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood is set to become the home of the city’s first Native affordable housing project.

The seven-story apartment complex is scheduled to open this year. It will include 45 units and offer space for several community services. The building’s name is “Jigzibik,” meaning “at the river’s edge,” because it will face the Chicago River. Its exterior will also feature Native art depicting the river’s branches.

The project is being co-developed by Visionary Ventures — a Native-led nonprofit that works to provide affordable housing and economic development to the Native community — and Full Circle Communities, another affordable housing nonprofit in Chicago. The project is funded by the Chicago Department of Housing, permanent supportive housing funds and low-income housing tax credits.

Matthew Messner, an Oneida descendant and architect, serves on the Advisory Council and uses his knowledge to bridge communication between the council members and Jigzibik’s architects. His experience on the Advisory Council led to his new role as a Visionary Ventures board member.

Besides volunteering on the architectural side, Messner said the community aspect also drew him to the project.

He said he and many Natives are “always looking for ways to connect back with cultures that, in some cases, have been taken away from us — and in many ways, are only being held alive by the community.”

One of Messner’s favorite design aspects of the building is the sawtooth design, an intentional choice by Jigzibik’s architect Jaime Torres.

“The symbology there, besides the river, is the balance between the river and land,” Torres said. “Units will have a view of both, and by design, sunlight will flow into both living and communal rooms in each unit.”

Torres added, “This has the potential to be an example of how thoughtful, culturally relevant housing can be done in any part of the city or other cities.”

By Alana Eve Schacher

January 12, 2026