Chicago’s Push to Sell City-Owned Lots Kicks off

Two local housing developers are primed to buy a total of 27 city-owned lots on the South and West sides as Chicago ramps up its efforts to sell off vacant land.

Of the 10,000 vacant lots it owns, the Windy City has identified 4,000 that are clean and ready for sale, according to a report from Bloomberg. The city is looking to accelerate the sales in an effort to prevent crime and add to its affordable housing stock; the sales approved by the city’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate are among the first in the push.

The committee approved the sale of 20 lots in West Humboldt Park to Inherent l3C, a modular home company with its facility in the city’s Austin neighborhood. Brian O’Donnell, coordinating planner at the city’s Department of Housing, said the firm will build up to 21 single-family homes on the lots.

Inherent l3c founder Tim Swanson said the homes will have a target sales price of $350,000, which is 120 percent of the area’s median income.

The company’s intent “is to build as many working-class homeowners as possible through this model,” Swanson said. With two houses under production now, his firm plans to deliver all 21 by summer 2023.

In Tuesday’s committee meeting, 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata questioned whether the $350,000 price tag was affordable. 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett, who represents the area where the lots are located, agreed that the price point was high for the neighborhood but said it would still help the neighborhood, where property values are going up fast and houses are starting to sell for more than $700,000.

“We need to make sure we have affordability over here to balance it out,” he said.

The committee also approved selling off seven lots to Bronzeville-based R&D Builders, which plans to build nine single and multi-family residential structures on lots in the South Shore and Calumet Heights. Those will consist of one two-flat with one residence occupied by the owner, four townhomes and four single-family detached homes.

The lot sales are subject to approval from the full City Council, which is meeting today.