Austin Quality of Life Plan / Aspire Center
Turning Austin's community-driven vision into real investment
Metropolitan Planning Council Burnham Award, APA-IL Opportunity & Empowerment Award, Chicago Neighborhood Development Award (CNDA)
Spanning more than seven square miles and home to over 97,000 residents, Austin ranks among Chicago's largest neighborhoods in both size and population. Its Quality-of-Life Plan set a bold, community-driven vision. To move that vision forward, the community selected two focus areas for urban design improvements and real estate projects: the Chicago Avenue Corridor and the Madison Street/Central Street district.
Teska developed design concepts for Chicago Avenue properties and led feasibility analysis and conceptual design options to transform the former Emmet School into the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation. In 2020, Teska completed market studies supporting the Chicago Prize application from Austin Coming Together and West Side Health Authority, which proposed rehabbing the school as a new Early Childhood Center and headquarters for By The Hand Club For Kids. Together, these projects turn plan strategies into real investments in jobs, education, and neighborhood vitality.
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Design concepts for Chicago Avenue properties
Reuse plan and market analysis for the Aspire Center
Early childhood center feasibility and market analysis
Market studies supporting a Chicago Prize application
Burnham Award, Metropolitan Planning Council
First-ever APA-ILOpportunity and Empowerment Award
“Teska understands the Austin community. We have worked with them several times – from organizing Quality of Life Plan charrettes to undertaking market studies for the Aspire Initiative/Chicago Prize competition. They get what it takes to translate the community’s dreams into projects that can get built.”
- Darnell Shields, Executive Director, Austin Coming Together
SERVICES
Community Planning
Engagement
Site Design
Market Analysis
CLIENT
LISC Chicago
PARTNERS
Austin Coming Together (ACT)
West Side Health Authority
RELATED WORK
Austin By The Hand Outreach