AUBURN GRESHAM — A Southwest Side native passionate about bettering his community through health, wellness and basketball is developing an $8 million community center in Auburn Gresham. 

The Blue Azul Center, a multidisciplinary facility with mental health services, educational programs and fitness and sports resources, will be built on vacant land at 7950 S. Emerald Ave. The center is the brainchild of Eliseo “Blue” Pacheco-Cornejo and his wife, Valentina Pacheco-Cornejo. The couple named the facility using the middle names of their son and daughter. 

The Blue Azul Center will have a fitness center, commercial kitchen, multipurpose room, full basketball court, indoor courtyard and outdoor seating. Dr. Valentina LLC, a mental health practice founded by Valentina Pacheco-Cornejo, will provide clinical services, workshops and training opportunities for college students at the center, Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo said. 

The forthcoming center was one of 14 projects to receive a Community Development Grant in January. The Pacheco-Cornejos will use the $3.7 million award to transform 37,000-square-feet of land into “an exciting amenity with resources everyone can use,” he said. 

Deon Lucas of E.G. Woode, a collective of South Side architects, designers and entrepreneurs, will be the project’s architect. The estimated cost for the center is about $8 million, Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo said.

“My wife and I want a safe place for our kids and others to learn, play and grow,” Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo said. “We want families to have options.” 

Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo grew up in Gage Park with a love for basketball, he said. He played college ball at the Illinois Institute of Technology before joining the National Professional Basketball League in Mexico and the International Basketball Association – USA. 

Pacheco-Cornejo is a mentor and founder of Think BLUE LLC, a nonprofit that provides basketball lessons and fitness training to people of all ages. He operates the nonprofit at the Center of Englewood, 838 W. Marquette Road. 

The Blue Azul Center will have a full basketball court where Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo can continue his basketball program while offering community members a safe place to learn the game, he said. 

Educational programs at the center will encourage young people to stay active and explore careers outside of sports and entertainment, he said. 

The Blue Azul Center joins an extensive list of projects planned for Auburn Gresham. 

Auburn Gresham Apartments, a $43 million affordable housing complex, will open across the street from the newly renovated Save A Lot grocery on 79th and Halsted streets. 

Three miles from the Save A Lot, Green Era and Urban Growers Collective are operating an anaerobic digestor at the Green Era Campus — a $35 million project that turns food waste into enough compost to create a new garden every day. The project won the $10 million Chicago Prize in 2020, along with the Healthy Lifestyle Hub.

Jamaican Jerk Villa Bar & Grill, a family-owned restaurant, opened with indoor and outdoor patio seating on the 79th Street corridor in 2024. And, a $35 million Metra station is expected to debut in Auburn Gresham this year. 

When Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo approached Ald. David Moore (17th) two years ago with dreams of opening a community center, he “had no clue” about the long list of developments slated for the community, he said. 

“This center will help complement what’s going on in the area and benefits everyone,” Eliseo Pacheco-Cornejo said. “From minute one, people who live nearby can come in and enjoy the amenities we’ll have.”

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