Such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the
meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to: one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12,
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to: one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12, are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure The Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the
meeting. Any item that poses a potential safety
hazards, as determined by the Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited
in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that
do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while
seated, and can only be used in a manner that does
not interfere with the ability of other individuals to view
or hear the proceedings. Individuals or groups
failing to adhere to these rules will be subject to removal
from the remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon
request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times, except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the city council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace/pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the sergeant at arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the sergeant at arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling-
Good afternoon, everyone, and
I want to welcome everyone to the July meeting of the Committee on
Housing and Real Estate
of the Chicago City Council. The time is 12:45,
and the meeting is called to order.
Today, we have 21 items on the agenda.
I will now start with the roll call to establish quorum.
So if I can get your attention to make sure that we got
you for attendance. Vice Chair Mitchell?
Vice Chair Mitchell's thing is dealing with transportation. Alderman Espada?
Present. Alderman Dowell? Present. Alderman Robinson?
Not present. Alderman Harris? Here. Alderman Harris, present. Alderman Quinn?
Here. Present.
Alderwoman Tarares?
Here. Present. Alderwoman Scott?
Alderwoman Scott, present. Alderperson Fuentes?
Here. Present. Alderman Burnett?
Present. Alderman Quezada?
Present. Alderman Villegas?
Alderwoman Metz?
Not present. Alderwoman Clay? Not present.
Alderwoman Mona Happenworth? Present.
That gives
us 12, including the chair. So we have quorum.
There are four members
that
have requested a Rule 59 request. Those are Alderman
Moore, Alderwoman Taylor, Alderwoman Rodriguez
Sanchez, and Alderwoman Hadden.
Robinson for the... Oh, and Alderman Robinson has also
requested a Rule 59 to participate remotely.
Can I get a motion to allow them to be added?
Did you call Alderman Moore as well?
Yes, Alderman. Yep. We got you.
And that was
seconded by Alderwoman Dowell. All those in favor say "Aye."
Aye.
All those opposed say "Nay." In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Now we have Alderman Moore, Alderwoman Taylor,
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez, and Alderwoman Hadden and
Alderman Robinson that have been added for the
quorum.
Now we have, I think it's seven.
Six or seven.
Six
We have a few non-members, Alderman Mosley
and Alderman Hall. And any of you?
And Alderman Martin and Alderman O'Shea for as
non-members in committee.
We
have
six
public comments.
Each speaker will be given three minutes to speak on all items on the agenda.
And the first speaker is Veronica Gonzalez for the Illinois Housing
Council.
Good afternoon, Chairman Sigcho-Lopez and members of the committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Veronica Gonzalez, and I'm with the NHP Foundation.
We're a national affordable housing developer.
We're lucky enough to operate in 15 states and to own and
preserve 9,600 affordable housing units in that portfolio.
And what this means is that we work in your competitive cities, right?
Cities just like Chicago that are looking to deliver
more affordable housing units. Communities like Boston, New
York, the District of Columbia,
and cities that I would say are not in Chicago's competitive set
because they've been able to deliver more aggressively on that
affordable housing production schedule, such as Austin,
Denver, and Minneapolis.
So we
recognize that
there is a lot of improvement to make here in Chicago, and we're here in support
of Alderman Martin's ordinance.
I also serve as the president of the Illinois Housing Council, which is a member
organization of non-profit and for-profit affordable housing
developers. So when I speak, I speak on behalf of a lot of
experience working with the City of Chicago to be able to improve
our delivery of the affordable housing pipeline.
We know that every affordable housing development is financed with very limited
public resources, and we as developers assume accountability and
responsibility to be able to use those dollars as efficiently as
possible and to build and preserve as many affordable homes as
we can, because we know the demand is high.
In doing this, though, we recognize that construction is inherently
unpredictable. We routinely encounter unforeseen
conditions, whether that's utility conflicts, existing building
conditions that cannot be identified before the work begins.
And so in order to account for that, every project includes a
construction contingency,
and change orders become a normal part of the construction process.
That way, if any unexpected costs arise that go beyond the
available contingency, guess what?
I've already given this city a guarantee as the
developer. We commit to that prior to closing that any cost
overruns that occur on the project, I
have to put those dollars up in order for the deal to be delivered.
That's our commitment. That's what our guarantee gives you when we sign those
documents at closing.
And so in order to do that, right, we have every incentive to
carefully scrutinize change orders and manage construction costs
responsibly.
The current process, unfortunately, requires many
routine construction decisions that have to wait for multiple layers
of administrative review, even when those changes have no impact on the
affordability, no impact on accessibility, and no impact
on the overall scope of the project.
Meanwhile, construction has to continue because stopping
work often is not an option.
Thank you. Next, we have Carlo Gutierrez from the
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
Good afternoon, Chair Sigcho-Lopez and members of the committee.
My name is Carlo Gutierrez from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, representing
over 1,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors across our city and surrounding
region.
We are here to express our support for Alderman Martin's housing ordinance before
the committee today, which serves to expand housing accessibility through practical
common sense reforms, including process reforms, thereby
removing needless and prohibitive project costs, all while still maintaining
important regulatory oversight.
Our reason for our support is simple.
The mission of the Chamber is economic development and workforce development.
But deeper than that, our mission is Chicago wins. We win.
When it comes to moving our mission forward, we take a holistic view that entails
elements like the five Ts of talent, training, transportation, transparency, and
technology.
But as the proud home of Second City, there's a line in improv that is,
"If this is true, what else is true?" And when thinking that, it takes about three
seconds to arrive at the role that housing accessibility plays in advancing our
mission because of the role it plays in attracting, retaining, and growing our
workforce.
Affordable home prices have historically been central to Chicago's ability to be a
destination for growing businesses, families, investment, and opportunity.
But that has begun to change recently,
as Chicago's home prices have been rising faster than the national average and
medium home prices breaking records.
The immediate reasons that are specific to Chicago are elements like tight
competitive market, low inventory, and so on.
But the driving factors behind that
is the ability to build, and that's rooted in policy that's created
prohibitive barriers to building by way of onerous, burdensome, and/or unpractical
and outdated regulatory constraints.
The good news is that, and being policy, these can be
addressed, bringing us to Alderman Martin's proposal.
I want to take this moment to commend the leadership of both Alderman Martin and
the Illinois Housing Council for their thoughtful work in developing this proposal
and the deliberative process by which they engage with stakeholders to reach final
language.
Our bottom line is this: we need to build.
We need to do so at a scale that brings about real citywide impact and
ensures Chicago always will be the most attractive place to work, grow,
build, and raise a family.
It's for these reasons and more that the Chicago Land Chamber supports this
ordinance, and we encourage this committee to do a recommend
due pass for the full city council today. Thank you.
Thank you. Next, we have Kate Gronstal from the Evergreen Real Estate
Group and Illinois Housing Council.
Good afternoon. We're all trying to rush through because this has got a lot of meat
in it.
But I'm Kate Gronstal, Vice President of Development Operations at Evergreen Real
Estate Group,
and I want to echo the things that were said just before me.
But Evergreen, as a company, manages and owns over
15,000 apartment units in 14 different states.
So much like Veronica stated, we have experience in many other
jurisdictions. We've developed
eight new affordable housing buildings with a total of 370 new units in
the city of Chicago over the last 10 years.
Since 2020, changes with policies at the Department of Housing
have led to delays in our construction and, more importantly, delays to residents
being moved into units. And I would
welcome any council members, as we have
buildings open, to talk to those residents that we have.
They often are in tears getting those new units,
and when we first move people in,
we set them up, they walk through their unit, they know the unit they're getting,
and then there is a long wait to get approval for a certificate of
occupancy
or approval to occupy the unit. In other jurisdictions, we receive
our CFO from the Department of Buildings, the architect creates a punch
list with items that remain to be completed or corrected, and they
certify that the building's substantially complete.
We also get permanent insurance for the property.
Once those three steps are completed, we have permission from the tax credit
issuer to occupy the building and move in residents.
In Chicago, there is an added process from the Department of Housing that often
takes a minimum of two months to complete.
This means residents are ready to move into units, have informed their current
landlord they'll be moving out, and made moving arrangements.
They may have to find somewhere to stay temporarily, somewhere to store their
belongings, with no clear timeline for when they'll be able to move into their
new unit. This ordinance provides a clear path for the Department of Housing
to ensure a more efficient and timely process for getting residents housed.
It will ensure that units that are completed
don't sit vacant for months waiting for an approval to have residents move in.
The ordinance mirrors the process in other jurisdictions to ensure that units are
ready for residents while reducing the administrative burden and the timeline to
house residents. Illinois Housing Council and
all of our members have had meetings with Department of Housing, with Alderman
Martin, and obviously a lot of other aldermanic offices on how to improve
efficiency and get Chicagoans quality housing more quickly.
We have appreciated those conversations and know that progress is being made on
some fronts. We feel this ordinance comprises a significant
portion of what we have discussed with all of you over the course of many buildings
being built, and we fully support
Alderman Martin's ordinance, and we thank both the Illinois Housing
Council, Alderman Martin, and members of this committee for your willingness to
help find solutions to our housing crisis.
Our residents and those we hope to house in the future are grateful for the
commitment to finding solutions.
Thank you. Next, we have Jamie Osowski from the Chicago Coalition to
End Homelessness.
Hello. My name is Jamie Osowski and I'm a grassroots leader
with the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness.
I'm here today to learn and talk more about the flexible housing pool.
We need permanent housing with wraparound services.
Research shows that permanent housing and wraparound services are an
extremely effective way for people to move from homelessness
to stability and an essential part of ending homelessness.
You might be asking yourself, how do I know this?
It's because I've experienced homelessness myself.
I'm currently living in temporary housing.
Being homeless was a very traumatic experience for myself, but it showed
me all the flaws in the systems. Homelessness is not a
personal failure, it is a systematic failure
that can be changed for the better by funding permanent housing and wraparound
services. How are we going to continue helping our
fellow Chicagoans if we don't save existing permanent
housing, including the flexible housing pool?
We can't expand permanent housing if we aren't saving those
already established housing in the flexible housing
pool.
We want more permanent housing and wraparound services to uplift
those who are homeless and treat them with dignity and respect.
Housing is a human right, so I implore you to ensure
the flexible housing pool is able to continue to provide
essential housing and services.
People housed through the flexible housing pool are some of society's most
vulnerable. This is life-saving housing.
Being part of the flexible housing pool significantly decreases
mortality. For every 111 people housed, one
person's life is saved. We must fully fund the
flexible housing pool and wraparound services so people don't
become homeless again.
Thank you. Next, we have Zoe Lee.
The affordable housing racket is such a great
talk, but
it's a fraud. It's
fraud, and it's been fraud. If y'all really cared about
affordable housing, y'all wouldn't have knocked down them projects.
Y'all would've rehabbed the projects,
but y'all didn't do that. So now y'all play this game, come down here,
say you're fighting for affordable housing, and then 20% of the units are
only affordable, but not the rest of it.
And then you have to go through credit check and all this stuff.
I walked here today, because I got to start walking again,
and I counted 10
Chicagoan homeless people.
I count them all the time. I could do a whole video.
I know people that have been homeless in 2023 and came down
here asking y'all for help, and they're still homeless now.
So I'm just not understanding y'all talking points when it come to this
homeless stuff. But also, I want to talk about this
protectors, renters ordinance that the city council
better say no to
until the City of Chicago completes a full forensic audit of housing
spending, migrant related expenditures, and the impact
these policies have had on Chicago residents.
And especially the citywide rental registry.
All rental properties will be required to register annually with the
city, creating a database to improve code enforcement and
identify repeat violators. Well, I'll tell you some repeat violators.
Draper & Kramer,
the ones who own,
Prairie Shores. They
have $1.4 billion in assets. It's a slumlord
over there. Why don't you go get all the money that's over there from them?
Or how about Mac Properties, who is $1.9 billion in
assets.
We looking at over three billion right there.
But you know what you got Prairie Shores as?
Y'all have worked with Draper & Kramer and Chicago Housing Authority
to
house all those foreigners over there, them foreigner students on them
visas.
All this is a racket.
So until the feds come in here and start doing
the forensic audit on all of the housing, because housing is a human right, but
only for illegals.
Y'all can play this game all y'all want. Chicago ain't going.
The progressive movement is gone.
Socialism and communism is not going to work in the City of Chicago, and we've
seen it. Look how y'all handled the migrant crisis.
Y'all prioritized illegal aliens from a different
country than the Chicagoans that's on the street.
That's a RICO.
Next, we have Tawana Tang from Tandem
Ventures and the Illinois Housing Council.
Good afternoon. My name is Tawana Tang, President of Tandem
Ventures. For over two decades, I've worked directly with
MBE/WBE subcontractors on affordable housing developments
across Chicago. I'm here today in support of Alderman Martin's
ordinance because I see firsthand how unnecessary
administrative delays negatively impact these
businesses. Most of these subcontractors are small businesses
with little or no access to capital.
They rely on payment from one project to cover payroll, union dues, and
material purchases on other projects.
That's a tight margin in the best of times, and it becomes
untenable when approvals delay draw processing for consecutive
months. One aspect of this ordinance addresses the delayed
approval of routine construction change orders.
In my experience, change orders are a normal and
unavoidable part of construction.
Work continues because projects can't simply stop while paperwork moves
through layers of review. But when approvals lag,
payment for completed work lags with it, and the burden falls on the
subcontractors who can least absorb it.
Across multiple projects over the last few years, I've watched this play out again
and again. Liens filed against projects, subcontractors
borrowing at predatory rates just to stay afloat, unions
cutting off access to manpower, GCs rescinding contracts,
and subcontractors being forced out of business.
Most consistently, I've seen subcontractors become unable to take on
new work due to cash flow constraints.
The subcontractors who survive carry their experience forward.
They price it into future bids, or they walk away from city-funded affordable
housing projects altogether, undermining the city's goal of
expanding opportunities for diverse businesses.
The ordinance addresses these challenges by allowing routine construction
processes to move forward without unnecessary city delays,
while ensuring that significant changes affecting a project's affordability
or accessibility still receive full department review.
It doesn't remove oversight. It focuses that oversight where it actually
matters. Its public reporting requirement will show exactly where delays
are occurring, creating the accountability the city and stakeholders need
to continue improving the process over time.
By making the process more predictable while preserving appropriate
oversight, this ordinance will help keep construction on affordable housing
moving, improve cash flow for the subcontractors who depend on timely
payment, and ensure that limited affordable housing dollars are
invested in building more homes, not in paying for
avoidable delays. Thank you.
Thank you. Our last
speaker is Mr. George Blakemore.
The federal government. I'm going to watch those minutes.
It ticks quiet on me. The federal government have gotten
out of the business of
public house. The young ladies were speaking about the
subcontractors, and most of those subcontractors are
Black. Also, that Hispanic lady came up
And I listened. She said in
Denver, she said in Austin, Texas, and another town,
these Hispanics,
they got more sense
in how to work the system than the Blacks.
You can see it.
They advocate for their people. You can see
it. And you're not entitled to no
housing.
You have to work for your housing.
And you're going to tell me if I'm an owner of some property, you're
going to tell me how much to rent it for,
and who to rent it to?
I don't think so.
It's not going to happen.
So these
Black faces,
I was looking at these wards, and over there at the Tribune Tower,
they use government money. But they say, "No, we don't want no poor people
to live at the Tribune Tower.
Send them somewhere else."
So
again,
if something happened to the Black man
on this plantation,
he can see other people getting things that he's entitled
to get.
These people have never been enslaved in America,
and they get
more than we get. It's because of us.
It's because of us
that we have dropped the ball.
The Black folk, how can you let somebody else
come over and get what you haven't received?
And your Black aldermen are silent.
Silent. Make it make
sense. These Hispanics have gentrified
you out of the city of Chicago. Blacks are
moving down south, and Hispanics and whites and Asians are moving
up north to the city of Chicago. Well, why are they
moving up to the city and you moving out?
Gentifying you out because they got more
sense than you, than me, than us, you
see. We're still on this
white man's plantation.
You got Black faces in high places, but they're
selling you out. I'm looking at the damn-
Thank
you.
Thank you. The committee also received six written public
comments.
Three are in support of item three on the agenda, one in support of the
subject matter hearing, and two other addressing general housing
topics. Written comments were emailed and included in your packets
today. Thank you, everyone, for coming to
public comment, and this concludes our public comment section of the
agenda. Our first order of business is the Rule 45 report
from June 10th, 2026, and the subject matter hearing
on June 29th, 2026, which was emailed and handed
out to committee members as well. Can I get a motion to recommend approval of
this report? So moved by Alderperson Anna Hapenworth.
All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The Rule 45 report
has been approved.
Now we will move on to the items before the committee.
We'll begin today's meeting with a short informational presentation
regarding the Flexible Housing Pool program from the Center for
Housing and Health. Joining us in the box are Peter
Tuffer, the executive director,
Center for Housing and Health.
Kayla Wallace, chair of the Flexible Housing Pool governing board.
And this item was brought to our attention by folks from the
CHH AIDS Foundation, Alderwoman
Hadden, and Alderman Villegas. Materials for this section are in
your packets, and digital copies were also emailed
out to committee members this week.
Alderwoman Hadden will open with a few words, and then we'll begin the
presentation, followed by Q&A. Alderwoman Hadden, can
you hear us?
Yes. Can you hear me?
We can hear you. The floor is yours.
Great. Thank you, Chair. I'm sorry to not be able to join you in person today, and
I want to really thank our friends from the AIDS Foundation and
the Flexible Housing Pool for being there, and to my colleagues for your attention.
Many of you may know about this. We brought this resolution forward
because focusing on tools that work,
that are effective at housing people who need it, and that
are also efficient.
I think
if we've got those, and we've got the data, and we've got the organizations that
can do it, we need to continue to support those.
We know that
people experiencing homelessness, housing instability
is an issue that is increasing. Myself, my
team, of course,
other members of this committee, have put a lot of importance on this.
This will always be a priority. So the Flexible Housing Pool,
this is a multi-agency program. It's complicated.
The City of Chicago was the largest funder of this program.
And the funding that we submit for this is not
meeting the needs.
I hope you're listening to this presentation that they'll give,
and asking questions. Hopefully, you'll see this is a very effective
program, something that we should invest more dollars in.
It's different from traditional housing programs in that it not only houses
people, but focuses on improving individual health outcomes
while reducing costs to the healthcare sector.
Right now, we spend $6 million a year.
That's what we put in for our 2026 budget, which is a little over half of the
program's funding. And there are 251 households
enrolled in this Flexible Housing Pool program that are
City of Chicago residents. But at our current funding,
it's only supporting 188 households.
So we've got 64 households that are at risk, and we need an
additional $2 million for fiscal year 2027.
So without the increase in funding from us,
64 households enrolled in this program are at risk of returning to
homelessness.
So solutions that work, I feel like that's something that unites us.
Working with organizations who are experts who we can trust,
another thing that we're always looking for.
And so,
I just want to thank my colleagues.
Thank you, Chair, for letting us bring this forward.
And please listen and consider the ask that they have,
especially as we move into our mid-year budget
hearings coming up and our conversations, of course,
post-August about how we're going to meet the needs for Chicagoans.
This program is one that we can't afford
to let slip. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderwoman.
So we go ahead. We also, before we start a presentation, want to recognize Vice
Chair Mitchell for the purpose of the quorum.
And, yes, if you can please state your name and title so that we're going to
have the presentation now. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Hadden, Chair Sigcho-Lopez, and members of the City
Council. My name is Peter Tepfer, and I serve as the executive
director of the Center for Housing and Health.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today in support of
increasing funding for the Flexible Housing Pool.
The mission of the Center for Housing and Health is to honor every person's right
to housing and healthcare by bridging the housing and healthcare
systems in order to improve the lives of Chicagoans experiencing homelessness.
The Center for Housing and Health serves as the administrator of the Flexible
Housing Pool, which, as the alderwoman shared, is a multi-agency
program that helps people who are experiencing homelessness, who
also are frequent users of public crisis systems, to help
them find permanent housing.
The Flexible Housing Pool is a supportive housing program that provides rental
subsidies and intensive services to participants to help
them get housed quickly, to stay housed, access healthcare
services, and access other resources needed to thrive.
It was established in 2018 and operates as a public-private
partnership between multiple cross-sector stakeholders all
across Cook County.
The Flexible Housing Pool is an innovative project that
tackles homelessness among people
cycling through
public crisis systems. It offers a wide array of services,
including rental subsidies, utility payments, furniture,
mobile street outreach, navigation to housing,
intensive in-home case management, and employment services.
The Flexible Housing Pool uses a housing-first model, meaning that
participants are linked to safe and stable housing immediately, without
any conditions, where they then can address any behavioral or
physical health needs from the safety of their home.
The Flexible Housing Pool leverages funding from across sectors,
including managed care organizations, hospital systems, public
housing authorities, the State of Illinois,
Cook County, the City of Chicago, as well as philanthropy.
It is different from other programs in that we have demonstrated
outcomes for healthcare and other
public needs.
It does reduce costs, as evidenced by a recent
evaluation conducted by researchers at Cook County Health.
This evaluation had results that are on par with other
major national studies.
And
this is not a small program. The Flexible Housing Pool, over the
life of the project, has served over 1,700 people,
including over 500 children. Once people get housed in the
program, they stay housed. Over 92% of people
enrolled in the program remain stably housed for over 12 months.
And importantly for this committee, the program produces over $11
million in cost offsets to public services annually
at its current scale.
That's nearly half the operating cost of the program
each year.
For the City of Chicago, the services that have those cost
offsets include a 46% decrease in
activations from emergency medical services and the fire department,
a 32% decrease in activations from the police department,
as well as dramatically fewer days in emergency shelter and
engagement with street outreach teams.
As you can see in your materials, the Flexible Housing Pool also
dramatically decreases hospital utilization and jail registrations.
All of this means that people are thriving, surviving,
all while being efficient with public dollars.
The Flexible Housing Pool combats persistent racial disparities in
housing by proportionally serving those who experience homelessness in
our city.
You all know that that is primarily Black and Latinx Chicagoans.
The Flexible Housing Pool is both a more humane intervention as
well as a more efficient use of city resources than the status
quo. The City of Chicago was the founding investor and has
been a leading partner in the Flexible Housing Pool.
Current funding from the city is at $6 million, but that's been
flat since 2020.
Unfortunately, that means that it no longer keeps pace with the
rising costs of rental expenses and
other inflationary pressures.
Our ask, as the FY27 budget process
kicks off, is for an additional $2 million, for a
total of $8 million, in order to continue housing
stability for all the households enrolled with the City of
Chicago funds.
As Alderwoman Haven stated, right now, there are 64 households that
are at risk of losing their housing because that funding has not kept pace
with the current costs in the rental market.
The Flexible Housing Pool is a proven program that works.
As the city budget process kicks off, please invest in
what works and protect the housing for those 64 households at risk.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today, and I'll be happy to answer
any questions.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Kayla Wallace, and I am here
today to speak to the
success story.
So for myself, in 2013, I was in an accident that
completely changed my quality of life, taking an unnoticeable
preexisting seizure condition to a cat that could be let out of a bag at
any moment. The increase in seizures led to multiple
injuries, loss of employment, agoraphobia, and eventually my
loss of housing.
Then came FHP. The Flexible Housing Pool was my
lifesaver, my lottery ticket, a very present help,
helping me to locate housing, fill out paperwork for
subsidies, and get moved in, including startup furniture.
Having a rescue like this gave me peace and extreme relief.
It gave me a sense of gratitude. I wanted to be able to help and
to thank them, and was wondering if there was some way that I could
actually help in return.
So I sat in on a couple of meetings and met with multiple people who wanted to know
more about my story.
Steven Brown, a gentleman who actually works with the Governance Council,
helped me get my disability
and gave me the income. That gave me income and my
independence. I later became the chair of that board.
Homelessness is never easy, but when you are chronically ill,
it can feel like the countdown of days on your life.
So my ask today is that you will continue
to support the Flexible Housing Pool
by offering that $8 million for this next fiscal
year of 2027,
so that my friends, community members, and those who are currently
housed in the Flexible Housing Pool are able to maintain
stable, secure, and affordable housing.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak before you today.
And of course, I'm willing to answer any questions as well. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Ms. Wallace. Any questions by committee members, this
subject matter hearing?
Alderman Espada? Alderman Espada.
So number one, thank you very much for the presentation today.
Thank you very much, Miss, for sharing your story with us.
We
know this both from your fact sheet, from your story, but also,
folks who have been here for a bit saw the Office of the Inspector General a couple
of years ago do a similar audit and
showed us the success of this program, and I'm very grateful for
it. I'm curious
if you can share with us as we
head into August, September, the budget season ahead of us,
what is
the funding that is needed, not only to keep the system
whole,
but for something that has proven so successful
to be able to expand the program, by your professional experience?
Thank you, Alderman. So our ask today is to keep the project whole,
recognizing the constraints on the city budget.
We would love the opportunity to make sure that this program was
available to everyone that needed it across the entire city.
We know that in your wards, there are people that are living
under viaducts, that are in encampments,
and those are folks that are excellent candidates for this project.
Those are the folks that are often going to the hospital
unnecessarily, have conditions that are untreated.
But for housing,
end up in situations that are dire.
So the project is able to absorb additional
funding beyond this ask to sustain the households that are currently
housed.
And
that is not necessarily our ask today, but if the council is interested,
we'd be happy to engage in conversations about what scaling this program further
could look like.
And I appreciate that, and I would kind of
push further to say, and you made the case yourself that
every single way that we
treat and address and serve the trauma and
instability in people's lives is inarguably more
expensive than just providing them housing.
So even if we're just talking about a set same number of
dollars, putting those dollars
into the Flexible Housing Pool
is not only a moral choice that we can and should make, it is
an efficient use of government funds
that I would argue we can and should make.
You don't have to provide it now, but if you want to share further
through the chair
... kind of like what the current goal is, but also, let's
talk about a stretch goal. Let's talk about what it takes to get
closer to make sure that everybody goes to bed
in a bed with a pillow in a bedroom that they can call their own.
Thank you so much, Alderman.
Thank you, sir. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Espada. Any other questions? Alderwoman Dowell.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just looking over
the information we received. So it's
a program for Chicago and Cook County?
That's correct.
All right. And right now, my colleague tells us we
provide, meaning the city provides, six million,
and you're asking for another two.
That's correct.
How much does Cook County government provide?
In fiscal year 2026, Cook County provided 3.8
million.
And are you asking them for any additional money?
They have committed to additional money for FY27.
How much?
They have committed 3.2 million.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Alderwoman Dowell.
Any additional questions by committee members?
No.
So I want to thank
all the panelists and Alderman Manhattan, Alderman
Villegas.
This concludes the subject matter hearing.
That's what the resolution asked for.
So we can dispose of item number two.
I will definitely be following up for any questions from,
especially budget questions as Alderwoman Dowell asked.
So we'll be in touch, and I want to thank you for your
advocacy. We look forward to keep working together with the council.
Thank you so much for joining us.
This concludes the second item. So we'll be moving on, on item number
three. We have a substitute for this
item. Changes to the ordinance will be...
I'm sorry, Alderwoman Dowell.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask, do you receive any state money?
Yes, there is also state money for the project.
How much?
In this year, there was a
pass-through from
the
continuum of care money that Chicago
receives through an organization called All Chicago,
and then also money from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority.
Okay. What's the number?
So there was not a direct allocation for the
pass-through money. We estimate that it was approximately $2 million
in the state's fiscal year 2026.
And it was passed through to whom? The City of Chicago
or?
To the Center for Housing and Health.
Okay.
And the other agency?
ICJIA, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
That's a direct grant to the Center for Housing and Health.
Okay. And what is the total budget for this program?
In calendar year 2026, the total budget was
approximately $17 million.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alderwoman Dowell. Thank you again for the presentation.
Now, as we move to the next item, we're going to take a quick recess.
I know that we had some
clarity on language for Alderman Martin's item.
So we're going to recess a few minutes so that you all have a copy of the latest
version. Or do you...
You already had it? Okay.
Electronic copy as well, for members who are here virtually.
So everybody received a copy of the latest, is that correct?
Yeah.
Okay.
It's the bottom of the packet with the paper clip on it.
Okay. Just want to make sure that everybody has the latest one.
So, thank you, Alderman Martin. So we're good with that.
So we have a substitute. That's a substitute that Alderman Martin
wanted to hand out to all committee members.
So the changes to the ordinance that will be explained by Alderman Martin.
Now that you have the substitute,
I want to ask for
the Aldermanic Introduction from
Substitute Ordinance
2025-0017573 is an
amendment to Municipal Code Chapter 2-44 by adding
new Section 2-44-170
regarding the requirements for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
Qualified Allocation Plans. Can I get a motion to accept now the
ordinance? So moved by Alderman Espada. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The substitute now is before us. So we're going to start with
Alderman Martin, who will provide opening remarks, and I know that he has
a guest as well that will follow
the presentation for Alderman Martin, so that the committee members can ask
questions. Alderman Martin, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon to you and to the members of this
committee. And I want to express my gratitude to you, Chairman, for placing this
item on today's agenda and for your help getting this across the finish line,
hopefully. The committee is very well aware that our city is facing an
affordable housing crisis. We know that we need to build more homes that our
constituents can afford, but we also recognize that doing so has become
increasingly difficult due to rising construction costs, interest
rates, and insurance premiums. To be clear, these are things that we can't
control. These are market forces beyond our ability to impact in the city.
However, we can control how our city government administers its
affordable housing programs.
Over the last year, my team and I have met with stakeholders who build quality,
affordable housing across Chicago
And one of the messages that has been remarkably consistent through all of
these conversations is that our current development process contains
unnecessary administrative delays that increase costs without
improving accountability. The substitute ordinance
that is before you is intended to address that problem and
does three fundamental things. First, it increases
transparency by requiring our Department of Housing to publicly
report performance metrics so that everyone, both in and outside of
government, can better understand how the affordable housing development
process is functioning here. These metrics include review timelines for key
city approvals throughout our development process, as well as affordable
housing production data. Some of that is shared on an annual
basis, some of it is provided quarterly.
Second, the substitute creates a more practical framework for construction
change orders by allowing the Department of Housing to focus its review on
project changes that truly affect affordability, accessibility,
project scope, or a specific threshold of the project's
contingency funds.
Change orders are a pretty normal part of any construction project, both on the
affordable side as well as the market rate side, and this ordinance
ensures that city oversight remains focused on where it adds the greatest
value to our affordable housing construction.
Third and lastly, the proposal eliminates a duplicative
occupancy approval process that can leave completed affordable housing homes
sitting vacant, even after they've received a certificate of occupancy
from the Department of Buildings.
These are unnecessary delays that can have real financial consequences
for affordable housing developments and keep families waiting longer for
homes that are already ready to be occupied.
The policy outlined in this ordinance is modeled after the process
currently being used by the state of Illinois and Ida.
I want to emphasize a few things that the ordinance is not.
It does not eliminate oversight, does not reduce
accountability, and it does not prevent the Department of Housing from ensuring
that publicly funded projects are delivered as approved.
I also want to emphasize that the substitute is substantially
different than the version I introduced a little over a year ago in May of
2025. We've had extensive conversations over the past several
months with Department of Housing, Department of Law, and affordable housing
stakeholders, some of whom provided public comment at the outset.
We've made numerous revisions. We've narrowed several provisions and
removed others entirely, while throughout incorporating additional
suggestions to address concerns raised by several of our
departments through these discussions.
And I want to highlight some of the things that have been removed entirely, because
again, a lot has changed. We, for example, removed a provision that would have
prohibited the Department of Housing from imposing affordable housing
design or material requirements beyond those required from our building
code. That's gone. We also removed requirements establishing specific
turnaround times for key city processes, including change order
reviews, draw payment approvals, and waiver requests.
We removed a deemed approval provision that would have allowed certain requests
to move forward if the department did not act within a specified timeline.
And finally, we removed a provision eliminating the department's separate notice to
proceed requirement, which would have allowed construction to begin once a building
permit had been issued by DOB.
So the removal of these provisions, together with numerous revisions we made
throughout the drafting process to address our department's concerns,
including additional implementation authority and safeguards to
preserve appropriate oversight, reflects significant compromises that
have shaped this ordinance on all sides.
The ordinance before you reflects that collaboration and compromise,
and I believe is a balanced approach to improving the efficiency, the
transparency, and predictability of Chicago's affordable housing development
process while preserving key city oversight.
Ultimately, this is about making our government work better.
I appreciate the many organizations that have provided sponsorship for this
approval, including Hire360,
Strong Town Chicago, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and of course, the
Illinois Housing Council. Those are my remarks.
Obviously happy to answer questions, and with your permission, Chairman, I would
turn things over to Allison Clements, the executive director of the Illinois
Housing Council, to share some brief remarks as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman. And before the
representative from the Illinois Housing Council introduce herself, also we have
from the Department of Housing, Matt Stern, deputy commissioner, Tamra Collins,
managing department commissioner, and Lauren Scott, policy analyst from
Department of Housing, in case there are any additional questions. Alderman Martin.
And I did want to finally call attention to the two changes that were
made between when we submitted the substitute ordinance over the
weekend and the ordinance that's been printed or sent
electronically. So on page three,
in section 4A,
capital A,
it says the third line from the bottom after a comma, "And may not impose
any requirements that conflict with those set forth in this
subsection B4A." That's a clarification.
It previously had said something similar, saying, "Set forth in this section."
We wanted to make clear that it was this subsection, B4A,
numbers one and two. So that's just a clarifying point.
And then the second, more substantive change is on the next page.
The last
sub-sentence in the first paragraph starts small,
sub Roman numeral five. This was an addition
that stipulates that MOPD needs to share
confirmation of its accessibility inspection and verified compliance.
This was done at the request of DOH and the law department,
based on the Access Living settlement that the full city council
approved last month to make sure that we didn't unintentionally
create litigation concerns with that settlement.
So I just wanted to highlight those two points and turn it back to you, Chair.
Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. Thank you for the clarification. Go ahead.
Welcome
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Sichoa Lopez and members of the
committee. My name is Allison Clements, and I serve as Executive Director
of the Illinois Housing Council. IHC represents nearly
300 organizations involved in the financing, development,
construction, ownership, and management of affordable housing across
Illinois, including nonprofit and for-profit developers,
lenders, investors, architects, contractors, and other
housing professionals. Over the past several years, we have heard a
remarkably consistent message from our members.
Developing affordable housing in the city of Chicago is increasingly difficult,
with administrative delays and city processes contributing to
inefficiency, increased risk, and delayed development timelines.
These challenges not only drive up the cost of affordable housing development,
they impact individuals and families in Chicago that desperately need housing.
Every unnecessary delay means fewer affordable homes can be built with limited
public resources. The ordinance before you today reflects months of a
collaboration with affordable housing stakeholders and is intended to address
those avoidable costs while preserving meaningful city oversight.
I'd like to share just a few examples from developers who
have experienced these challenges firsthand.
One nonprofit developer reported that delayed approval of routine plumbing and
masonry change orders increased project costs by
$150,000, extended resident relocation
timelines, and added several months of construction interests that reached
approximately $70,000 per month near the end of the project.
Another nonprofit developer processed 159 change orders
on a single rehab project. Every change order was carefully
negotiated and reviewed by the development team before submitted to the Department
of Housing, where many underwent a second lengthy review process that
delayed approvals, payments, and construction despite involving routine field
conditions. These delays don't just affect
developers. When change orders are delayed, payment for completed work is
delayed as well, creating cash flow challenges that disproportionately affect
contractors, subcontractors, and emerging MBE and
WBE firms with limited capacity to absorb those delays.
The financial impacts extend beyond construction.
One nonprofit developer reported that persistent delays in city draw
processing caused its investor to require a substantially larger
construction loan to account for payment uncertainty, resulting in
approximately $900,000 in additional interest costs to the
project.
The ordinance also addresses other unnecessary delay that occurs at the end of
construction. After the Department of Buildings has inspected a project
and issued a certificate of occupancy confirming it is safe for
residents, affordable housing developments often must wait for a separate
occupancy approval from the Department of Housing before families can move
in. During that time, completed apartments can sit vacant while
families remain on waiting lists.
These examples demonstrate why process matters.
This ordinance does not eliminate oversight.
It makes oversight more transparent, more predictable, and more focused on the
decisions that truly affect public investment and project outcomes.
Every dollar spent on affordable administrative delay is a dollar that
cannot be invested in additional affordable housing.
At a time when Chicago faces an acute affordable housing shortage, these
practical reforms will help ensure that limited public resources are spent
building homes rather than paying for unnecessary delay.
Thank you, and I respectfully ask for your support for this ordinance.
Thank you, Allison.
Are there any questions by committee members?
Any questions?
Otherwise,
can I get a motion to move on this item? Well, to move Alderman's spot up.
No.
All right, so we got a move Alderman's spot up. All those in favor say aye.
And those opposed are nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on,
what is it? July 15th, 2026. Thank you to the Illinois Housing
Council and Alderman Martin. Congratulations.
Look forward to
seeing the item in full council. Thank you so much.
The next two items are from the Department of Housing.
Item 4 is Ordinance
2026.0026247. Local
government agreement with the US Department of Urban and Housing
Development regarding HUD foreclosure of parcels
located in Bronzeville, AKA Hearts United Phase
2 project, and reconveyance of parcels to
Ventus Quincy LLC for development of affordable
housing in the 4th Ward. Katrina Collins from the Department of Housing is
here to present and testify on behalf of this ordinance.
Thank you, Katrina. The floor is yours.
Good morning, Chair and members of the
Housing and Real Estate Committee.
My name's Katrina Collins. I'm a financial planning analyst with the Department of
Housing. Today we're going to discuss a unit of local government
sale for Hearts United 2, which is also referred to as the Quincy.
So before we dive into everything, I just want to focus our objectives of why
we're doing this. In lieu of a traditional foreclosure, the unit of
local government sale allows us to help preserve affordability,
reinvest and rehabilitate in the development,
find a responsible, capable ownership and management team to
develop the property, and all of these things help ensure the overall
financial health of the development going forward.
Some background history. In March of 2023, the mortgages of Hearts
United and Liberty Square were assigned to HUD as a result of a defaulted
mortgage, and efforts began to reinstate the mortgages.
In July of 2024, the City of Chicago received a letter from
HUD, which served as notification that HUD had initiated a
foreclosure When a property owner defaults on a HUD-issued or
insured loan, HUD has the right to dispose of the property and sell it to the
highest bidder at public auction.
HUD's actions are motivated by an interest to recover losses and install
a suitable operator to stabilize the properties.
HUD had approached the Department of Housing to act as the unit of local
government, also referred to as ULG, which allows the city
local control and helps prevent the property from being sold to a solely
market-rate operator. The City of Chicago entered into a
non-disclosure agreement with HUD to protect the information of the property
and its residents until information of the sale was allowed to be released.
If HUD is the highest bidder at the foreclosure proceedings, the City of
Chicago will serve as a unit of local government.
As the ULG, the Department of Housing will acquire the building for a moment in
time from HUD and sell the property to an affordable
owner/operator to stabilize the property and preserve affordability.
As a result of the foreclosure, all debt owed to the City of
Chicago and regulatory agreements will be
terminated. However, 27 public housing units will
survive
the foreclosure under a declaration of restrictive covenants.
And again, I just want to emphasize, in the event HUD is
outbid at the foreclosure sale, this transaction will not proceed as
a unit of local government.
And just an overview, this property is a 16-building
scattered site, and it contains 107 units.
As mentioned previously, the city entered into a non-disclosure agreement, and we
are omitting the dollar amounts associated with HUD and CHA to protect the
information in the upcoming foreclosure sale.
The City of Chicago had allocated tax credits and
approximately $4.5 million for the original financing in the
property, which closed in 2000.
As I mentioned at the beginning, there's four
buildings, four properties that were
under the foreclosure initiation by HUD.
And just an update on those other buildings.
The Leotine, also known as Hartz Three, closed in April of 2025.
Liberty Square closed in July of 2025.
Both of these properties were able to be released from the foreclosure process and
were successfully transferred to a new owner through a private sale.
The Langston, also known as Hartz One, will return to City Council with additional
information when it's available to the public.
And the Quincy, Hartz Two, the property we're discussing today, is on track to
proceed with the unit of local government sale this fall.
The City of Chicago released a request for qualification, also known as an
RFQ, to determine the level of interest among developers in acquiring,
rehabilitating, and owning the property.
The City of Chicago currently has no ownership interest in these developments.
The purpose of this effort was to identify responsible disposition plans for the
development that preserves affordability and contributes to the overall
viability of the developments and the communities they are in.
So this RFQ was released last August.
HUD hosted an open house last September.
A pre-bid conference was hosted by our asset management team in
September, and the deadline for that RFQ closed in October.
We did receive three applications for the Langston property and two applications
for the Quincy.
To give everybody an understanding
of the timeline, again, this is in the event that HUD is the highest bidder
at the foreclosure sale, but we are hoping to secure
passage in July this month. The authorization
approved by City Council will give us the ability to enter into the unit of
local government contract with HUD.
From there, a foreclosure sale will happen 45 days after the
contract is signed, and that's when HUD transfer the property to the
city, and on the same day, in the same moment of time, the property will be
released from the city to the RFQ winner.
The city, HUD, and CHA are committed to ensuring tenants are not
displaced, do not become rent burdened, and have improved living
conditions. To ensure these efforts are sustained over a long term, it's
necessary to raise the mix of market rates to allow for more revenue
generation. This would occur through no added rent burden
to the existing tenants. So that means there will be 60% of the units at
60% AMI, 20% of the units at 80% AMI, and
20 units will be market rate.
All public housing units will remain until
2051.
And then this is just an overview of the breakdown
of the buildings, how many units are in them, which buildings have public housing
units, and which are on ground leases.
So how the financing of this works in, again, the event HUD
is the highest bidder, the City of Chicago will pay them $10 at closing, and
in return on the same day, will receive that $10 from the RFQ applicant,
and then the RFQ applicant will be subject to a HUD equity sharing
participation. Which means if they are to sell the building before 30 years,
a portion of the proceeds would be returned to HUD.
And so our RFQ selectant was Ventas Holdings.
Just a quick overview on their portfolio.
They do have just under 950 units in their portfolio.
They do operate in-house property management, in-house construction, and their
largest building in their portfolio is
118 units, which is comparable to this property.
And I know that that was a lot of information.
So before I read the recommendations, I do want to pause
and just refocus our efforts on this, why we're doing this.
This is our opportunity to help preserve affordability, ensure
there's a reinvestment and a rehabilitation in the development, and to have a
say in who will be taking over as owners and management team.
All of this, again, ensuring the overall financial health of the development going
forward.
And
I know this is a very confusing transaction.
It's only happened one other time in our history with the Department of Housing.
But just for awareness, if in the event we do receive an
unfavorable vote from the committee,
so what happens is we won't enter into the contract with HUD
and then HUD will proceed with a traditional foreclosure, and they will
not bid on the property. So, that just means whoever the highest bidder is will
take over, and there's no opportunity to help preserve the affordability.
And then just to highlight again why we're trying to get the approval now here in
July, receiving authorization will put us in a position to move
forward as soon as all due diligence is completed.
Our hope is to position the property to have new owners in place by
fall to avoid another winter for the residents.
So our recommended actions today,
to authorize City of Chicago Department of Housing to enter into
at a unit of local government sale contract with HUD, and to approve
DOH's recommendation to designate Ventas Holdings as the selected
developer of the RFQ, the Quincy, and enter into a
contract with that entity.
That concludes my presentation. If anybody has any questions.
Thank you. We also have Alderman Robinson on the call for any
additional questions. Alderman Villegas.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So you said this has only been done once.
So I just want to make sure I'm understanding how this transaction is.
So there's already a
not-for-profit provider that's providing this housing
right now?
It's a developer.
I don't recall if they're non-profit or-- Sorry. They are for-profit.
And I will mention that the principal member of this
development entity, they have served the affordable housing
community for over five decades. Unfortunately, they did
pass away last summer. So in the interim, his daughter has stepped in and done
an incredible job of keeping the building very
manageable with the limited income that they have at this time
to reinvest back in, which is obviously why we're trying to ensure a new
developer who can
properly reinvest and rehabilitate the property.
So who's the owner of that?
The entity is called Baner
Realty Development.
And so they own this property now.
Correct. They will remain
in place as the owner until the foreclosure sale actually occurs.
Okay. And then,
how typical is it that HUD is pursuing foreclosed properties,
given the fact that they're having a hard time maintaining their properties now?
Yeah. So they're allowed to do that anytime they have...
Sorry, let me just make sure I have the language correct.
Anytime there is a HUD-issued or insured loan, they have the authority.
I can't say for the frequency of how often it occurs, but again, it's only
happened one other time in the city of Chicago's history.
Okay. And, can you tell me a little bit more about
Ventas, who this entity is?
Yeah. So they are local. They serve our community.
They're newer to our portfolio. They've stepped in and helped acquire
other distressed properties. And they have, again, close
to 950 units and--
Is there anything specifically you'd like to speak-- They are here today,
both principal members and their attorney, if you'd like to hear more specifically
about their entity.
Yeah, I'd like to know who principal is.
Okay.
Guys, if you can come up, state your name, your titles, and tell us a little bit
more about you guys.
Hello. Good afternoon. Zach Ellman, Principal of Ventas Holdings.
Good afternoon. Steven Perez, Principal of Ventas Holdings.
All right. And,
how long have you guys been doing this type of work-
So-
... in the city?
Sure. We've been partners for almost 14
years. We're both local to Chicago, born and
raised.
We still own the first 12-unit building that we purchased.
We have been in the affordable housing space for
about a decade now.
And we have been acquiring typically distressed
assets that we invest back into and stabilize.
Hence the need to have that market rate flexibility in order
to have the deal pencil out, correct?
Yeah. And there were already existing market rates in this, but we will be
increasing some of it to be at the 80% AMI.
But yes.
Got you. And then I noticed from the slide it talked about in-house
management as well as in-house construction.
To that extent, do
you utilize local minority women
or veteran-owned businesses to help with some of your work?
Or is that just all in-house, no bidding of any type of construction work?
We do almost everything in-house.
So,
my background, I'm an attorney by trade.
I don't really practice anymore. This is my main thing.
But Steve is a general contractor in the City of Chicago.
So we have our own crews that do all of our
work.
And the construction company's part of Ventas?
It's technically under Steve, but we're
affiliated.
Right. So it's like the
exclusive-
Yes
... general contractor for Ventas.
Correct.
Right. Okay.
Well, this is very unique. It's just very interesting and,
and so at the end of
the transaction,
who owns the property? HUD?
No, Ventas.
Ventas does.
We are just serving as the middleman to help monitor.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, cool. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Dowell.
Thank you.
Yes. Hi. For the principals, you do your own property
management, correct?
Correct.
Just want to ask if you
have live bodies answer the phone when tenants call?
We do.
Okay. Thank you.
Alderman Espada.
Thank you so much, Chair. I appreciate the presentation.
I appreciate the aspects of this that are within the NDA,
so I won't ask you to go into it. I did want to
understand
within the RFQ,
how
tenant protections, including potential right to return if
rehab is involved, is written into the
RFQ. I will admit, a cursory
look-up and looking at Ventas Holdings LLC versus Raddle
gives me pause, and I just want to understand
how tenant rights are
confirmed and codified within the RFQ.
Yeah. So it wouldn't be from the RFQ, it's from the foreclosure sale
itself. So the RFQ was just our way to see who was interested in this.
So I just want to clarify that.
Okay.
But there are, for this unit of local government sale, there are protections in
place.
All the CHA tenants have a two-year protection
after the transition of the sale,
regardless of if it goes unit of local government or a straight foreclosure.
And then the rest of the tenants...
Sorry, Aja, can you speak up to that detail?
Is my mic on? Okay, great.
For the record, Assistant Commissioner Aja Bonner of the Chicago Department of
Housing Asset Management Division.
And so,
this is a HUD-initiated process, to be sure.
And so, with HUD's participation in this, there come
the embedded tenant protections for all of the residents
currently at the Quincy. So,
one provision that comes as a part of this HUD-driven foreclosure
process are tenant protection vouchers
that are determined based on HUD executing a
tenant income survey to assess the need of existing tenants,
and then they administer, in participation with
CHA, tenant protection vouchers for those who need it.
So that technically they're able to apply those vouchers
wherever, including returning to the Quincy, or if
they so choose to seek housing
elsewhere.
Wait, exactly how does a tenant protection voucher work? I'm sorry.
They're
vouchers that run with the tenant.
So it would be HUD that administers an income
survey to the existing tenants of the Quincy to determine the need,
and then in partnership with CHA, they would administer those
tenants or issue those tenant protection vouchers to the tenants
who need them. And then the tenant can use them to pay
for housing where they choose, returning to the Quincy
or elsewhere.
I understand that. Why would they have to avail themselves of
the voucher? My understanding is that they'd be able to stay in place.
They have the choice to stay in place if they'd like to.
But because there are changes to the
income mix, as was shown in the slide, so we'll
have a few more units that'll be at 80% AMI.
Depending on what their current income is, the tenant protection
voucher will help them make up the difference between
rent assessed and where their income levels are at.
So this is going back to the
initial conversation, because you had said during the
presentation that no one would become rent burdened as
a result of this sale moving forward.
Is the tenant protection voucher the tool through
which
people's
income or ability to pay rises
commensurate with the new AMI levels on the rent?
Am I understanding that accurately?
Well, one of the due diligence items that we're going to be doing is an income
certification, and that's going to be initiated by HUD just to
ensure where everybody's at. And there are vacant units,
currently. That's part of the importance of the
rehabilitation and the reinvestment, so we can turn those units and get them filled
again. So if they are
overqualified, there's still a lot of flexibility with the open vacancies to
allow for the new people as they're turning the units.
Okay. I think I've asked my questions to the best
of my ability. If I need to follow up, I will through the chair.
Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. We have Alderman Robinson, who
also want to give some... Alderman Villegas.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Could
you guys provide us a list of all the
housing providers that you guys are using?
You mentioned Ventas is in your portfolio.
Could you give us a list of all the entities you work with?
Sure.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Robinson, I know they have direct experience
on this, so please go ahead.
Chairman, thank you very much. Let me also thank my colleagues for
their questions today. I think every
question that was asked
was very important.
As
I am supportive of this, I want to thank the
Department of Housing.
We're not out of the woods yet.
As the representatives from the Department of Housing mentioned,
our hope is that we'll be able to pull this property out of
foreclosure, and it goes to the group that's before you today
in hopes that we will be able to keep
... affordable housing in the Fourth Ward, which is something that
I am in desperately in need of.
And so again, I'm asking my colleagues to support this.
I understand that this is the second time the city
has done this. But my concern is that
this property, which can go into
the hands of a
group that would not
keep it affordable and can cause a lot of problems
for my residents. And so again, my hope is that we are
successful, and it goes to the group that's before you today to keep
this property affordable, which is much needed.
So Chairman, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak on this.
Thank you, Alderman.
So unless there's any other questions, can I have a motion to move on this item?
So moved by Alderman Villegas and Alderman Burnett. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next City
Council meeting on July 15, 2026. Thank you
very much to the applicant, and thank you-
You're welcome
... for the presentation. We have a substitute ordinance for the next item.
The only correction is to change a typo in reference
to Fulton Avenue to Fulton Street in the
sixth recital paragraph of the ordinance.
Copies of the substitute have been emailed and handed out to committee members in
your packets. Item number five is Substitute Ordinance
2026-0026373,
sale and transfer of Heritage Woods Senior Living Facility,
located at 2800 to 2822 West Fulton Street, and
300 through 326 North California Avenue to
High Point Residence, Chicago West Realty LLC, in
the 27th Ward. Can I get a motion to accept the
substitute? So moved by Alderman Quesada. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The substitute is in front of us. Katrina Collins again from DEOH,
who is here to testify on behalf of this ordinance. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman. Again, for the record, my name's Katrina Collins,
Department of Housing. Today we're discussing Renaissance Center, also referred to
as Heritage Woods. It is located at 2800 West Fulton,
located in East Garfield Park community area in the 27th Ward
under Alderman Walter Burnett. We will review the request for a sale and transfer
of the building, as well as the assignment assumption and amendment of the
regulatory agreement.
The property is located west of Western, north of Lake Street on
Fulton.
The property was originally developed by RRG Development and
JOS Cacciatore in partnership in 1999.
RRG Development sold the interest in the building around 2009,
and the property is being sold from Renaissance Center LP to a new single
purpose entity, High Point Residence Chicago West Realty
LLC, an affiliated entity of Vantage Senior Care.
Vantage Senior Care has over 35 years of experience in senior care.
They own 17 different senior living facilities in their portfolio in
Illinois and Wisconsin, with experience in supportive living, memory care,
assisted living, and independent senior living.
In addition to the properties they own, Vantage Senior Care also serves as a
property manager for all their buildings and a third-party property
manager for other properties, for a total of 27
buildings. So they are experienced with the regulatory
compliance with affordable housing.
Renaissance Center is a three-story elevator building containing
113 units. It is a supportive living facility for seniors
65 plus. The building includes 110 studios,
two one-bedroom manager units, and one two-bedroom manager units.
The regulatory agreement allows for 66 units restricted at
60% AMI, 44 units restricted at 50% AMI, and again,
the three manager units. However, the current owners, as well as the incoming
owners, will maintain all units apart from the manager units at
50% AMI.
The supportive living program provides affordable housing to seniors that helps
with their daily living. The building provides three daily meals, housekeeping
services. The program in the building provides personalized care plans,
medication management, daily living services, health and wellness
programs, and community engagement.
The property received approximately $2 million of HOME funds,
$1.3 million of EZ funds, and 4% tax credits
from the City of Chicago in the original financing, which closed in 1999.
All existing debt will be paid off as part of this transaction.
So we'll be returned the approximate $3.3 million.
The prospective buyer plans to renovate the common areas and replace the end of
life mechanicals. As part of the renovation, they plan to schedule work during
hours that are least obstructive to the residents.
They anticipate to start work at the time of transfer and estimate it will take
about 12 months.
So the next steps, with your favorable consideration, this should pass
in July. We'll continue to do all due diligence as
necessary with anticipating closing in August.
And our recommendations today and requested
actions to allow the sale and transfer of Renaissance Center
from Renaissance Center LP to High Point Residence Chicago West
Realty LLC, an affiliated entity of Vantage Senior
Care, and to allow the assignment assumption and amendment of the HOME
restrictions of the regulatory agreement.
That concludes my presentation, if there's any questions.
Any questions by committee members?
Otherwise, can I get a motion to move on this item?
So moved by Alderperson Fuentes. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All opposed. Oh, I'm sorry, before that, Alderman... I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Alderman Burnett, this is in your ward.
Correct. Thank you, Chairman. I just want to say first, thank you to the Department
of Housing for issuing, going through the process, and
making sure that this gets approved and your recommendation.
I do want to acknowledge, though, that
there is a bit of frustration with this process, just
given that we are
removing city funds from a project, and the steps in order to get
this done is tremendous. And there's no
fault to the Department of Housing, but a process that is a little
bureaucratic in the way that we approve sales here.
And so the owner who built this in 1999
has been a good steward of the property and in the community.
I personally know this project because I had an uncle who stayed at this
home and was treated very well. And
we've delayed their process by up to six months because it's required for
sale to go through council, even though we are
getting rid of our own city funding bonds in the process, and they're
not asking for anything else. So again, I want to say thank you to the Department
of Housing for working through this, but I do want to acknowledge that sometimes
these processes are unnecessary
and prevent
good things from happening quickly.
But I do ask my colleagues to support this so that both
the current owner and the new investor can continue to move
on with the transition and care of our senior community. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. And again, we renew the
motion by Alderman Fuentes. All those in favor say aye.
Those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Thank you, Alderman Burnett, for the context, and thank you to Department of
Housing.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. The remaining items
on today's agenda are from the Department of Planning.
Item six is ordinance 20260026376,
sale of city-owned property at various side yard locations throughout the
city to various buyers under the Chalk Block Builder platform.
Nadia Thomas from the Department of Planning and Development is present to testify
on this ordinance. Thank you, Nadia.
For the record, Nadia Thomas, senior land disposition officer.
Good afternoon, chair, members of the committee.
We are requesting approval for 22 side yards across
13 wards from the October 2025
round, which will generate $39,398
in revenue for the city while returning vacant land to productive
use.
In the third ward, it would be 4108 South Calumet.
The applicant is Valerie Beavers.
It's on the Grand Boulevard. The market value is
$77,926, and the purchase
price is
$7,793.
In the ninth ward,
the applicant is Denedra Watson. The property is
12327 South Wallace. It's in the
West Pullman neighborhood, and the market
value is $6,151,
and the purchase price is $615.
In the 10th ward, it's Crystal Marshall as the
applicant. The property address is 3344 East
91st Street. It's in the South Chicago community,
and the market value is
$10,178,
and the purchase price is $1,018.
In the 11th ward,
it's Lauren Tatum. The address is
534 West Root,
and the community area is New City.
The market value is
$33,689, and the total
purchase price is $3,369.
In the 15th ward is Alderman Lopez.
The
applicant is Ariel Thompson. The community area
is West Englewood. The market value is
$9,315, and the
purchase price is
$932.
In the 16th ward, it's Troy and Lela
Young and Willie Jones.
The community areas are New City and West Englewood.
The market value for
5404 South Laughlin is $9,340,
and for 6156 South Ada, the market value
is $8,720.
The purchase prices are $934
and $872.
In the 17th ward,
the applicants are Mellon Green and Shaquan
Davenport. Their address is 6715 South
Loomis. The community area is West Englewood.
The market value is $13,578.
The purchase price is $1,358.
In the 19th ward, it's Makita Holmes.
The community area is Morgan Park.
The property address is 1
11475 South Church.
The market value is
$37,573, and the
purchase price is $3,757.
In the 21st Ward is Eric Roberts.
The property address is 12241 South Union.
It's in the West Pullman area.
The market value is $6,237. The
purchase price is $624.
In the 24th Ward, there's three applicants.
The
property addresses are 1501 South Keller,
4036 West Polk, 713
South Central Park. They're in the North
Lawndale and Garfield Park areas.
The market values are $9,393,
$9,348, and
$14,999.
The purchase prices are $939,
$935, and $1,500.
In the 27th Ward, there's six properties and
six applicants. They're all in the Humboldt
Park and East Garfield Park.
The market value for 3510 West Heron is
$15,870, and the purchase price is
$1,587. For 740 North
Hamlin, the market value is
$24,349, and the purchase price
is $2,435.
For 416 North Lawndale, the market value is
$19,005, and the purchase price is
$19.01.
For 647 North
Spaulding, the market value is
$18,773, and the
purchase price is $1,877.
For 2943 West Adams, the market value is
$23,387, and the purchase price is
$2,339.
For 2916 West Fifth, the market value is
$17,860. The purchase price is
$1,786.
In the 28th Ward, the address is
3423 West Walnut. The applicant is Angela
Amazada.
The market value is $10,805. The purchase price
is $1,081.
In the 37th Ward, there's two applicants.
1004 North Harding, the applicant is Ramona
Roof. She's in the Humboldt Park area.
3938 West Ohio, LaShawn
Sindro. He's also in the Humboldt Park area.
The market value is $12,511. The
purchase price is $1,251.
For 3938 West Ohio, the market value is
$4,950, and the purchase price is
$495.
Well, that's the end of my presentation. Any questions?
Are there any questions by committee members?
Was going to get a motion to move on these items.
So moved by Alderman Casada. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposing, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of these ordinance will be reported out at the next
city council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item seven is an ordinance
2026-0026567, sale of city-owned
property at 11414 South Halsted Street
to Far South CDC under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
program for development of Morgan Park Commons, AKA Phase
0 in the 21st Ward. Jasmine Gunn from the Department of Planning
and Development is here to testify on behalf of this
ordinance. Thank you. Jasmine, the floor is yours.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon to you and the committee.
My name is Jasmine Gunn, and I'm a planner with the Far South
Planning Region in the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.
I'm here to present the land sale for the Morgan Park Commons project, located at
common address 11414 South Halsted Street.
This land disposition consists of two parcels with an estimated market value
of $695,805.
The parcels are included in the 21st Ward with Alderman Mosley and
in the Morgan Park community area, and this is in DPD's Far South
Planning Region, as well as 119th in Halsted TIF
District.
The aerial map shows the project location at the corner of 115th and
Halsted Street. The zoning of the site is a PD131, which
was established and approved in December of
2025.
The site is surrounded by retail and residential uses, and current
conditions include a vacant one-story, 67,000 square
foot retail store, as shown in the image here.
In terms of project overview, the lead developers or applicants for the land sale
are Far South Community Development Corporation, or Far South CDC, who will
acquire the parcels to complete site work.
That will include demolition of the existing commercial building, utility
improvements, along with right of way and stormwater infrastructure.
The land sale and site work is fully funded through a State of Illinois capital
grant. And after closing on the land and preparing the site for
development, a separate redevelopment agreement and legislative action will be
established for Far South CDC and their partners, Preservation of Affordable
Housing, to develop phase one of Morgan Park Commons project
Which will include the development of an affordable housing project that will
provide 70 new housing units through the support of LIHTC and other city
resources.
In terms of current site control, the overall site is highlighted with the
green outline.
The total square footage of the two city parcels to be disposed of are
highlighted in red on the diagram, and there's approximately
281,400 square feet. The other half
of the site is owned by the applicant, Far South CDC,
highlighted in the yellow outline, and then the blue outline is location of the
phase one affordable housing project.
This image shows an aerial view of the project site
in the early phases.
Please note that this
also features the phase one housing, which is highlighted here in purple.
And then this rendering shows an aerial view of the early
phases of the project. And note that it is directly next to the Major Taylor
Bike Trail, which this project will provide connections to as well.
And as mentioned, the scope of work for this land sale and site work
includes stormwater infrastructure, which is highlighted with the green pipes, as
well as the left corner, demolition and site clearance, as well as
grading and utilities.
The overall budget for this site work and land sale is $15 million.
And as mentioned previously, this is provided by the state of Illinois' capital
grants. The grant is expected to expire early next year, so we are looking
to move this project forward to ensure the use of those funds.
And then I did want to highlight that this property was donated to and acquired by
the city in November of 2024. And in the acquisition
ordinance, we did specifically state that the city would commit to moving forward
the Morgan Park Commons project.
So with that, I would like to
ask for a favorable vote for the approval of the authority to sell the land to
Far South CDC for $1 per parcel or $2
to advance the Morgan Park Commons project.
We do have a letter of support provided by Alderman Mosley, who is in attendance,
as well as the applicant as well.
That concludes my presentation. Thank you, and I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you. I know we have Alderman Mosley.
This is a big project in your ward, so do you want to-- I know everybody's ready to
move on this, but do you want to
maybe add anything, Alderman?
Just congratulations to Jasmine.
I think this is maybe the first presentation that I've attended where you are
now. Your designation is planner succeeding
Erica Selke. So congratulations to you on the
promotion. Thanks for your tireless leadership here in Far South
CDC, and
I'll even say to my colleague, my friend Ray Lopez, see, I brought it back to
council, I did. So congrats.
Thank you, Alderman. With that, can I have a motion to move on these
items? So moved by Alderman Casada. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
They do pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out on the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. Congratulations, Alderman, on your
community, and thank you again-
Thank you
... Jasmine for the presentation.
Item number eight is ordinance
2026-0026362, sale of city-owned
property at 419 East 50th Street to Click Development
LLC under the Block Building
Platform in the 20th Ward. Thomas Bellino from Department of Planning is here to
testify on behalf of this ordinance.
And he is
actually
joining us virtually. So can you hear us, Tom? Can you hear us?
Yes.
All right.
I can hear you.
It's not giving me the ability to share-
Oh
... my presentation. So is
somebody in the room doing that?
Can we check the... One second to make sure that...
I think now
we can
see it now, and
I guess we can
just follow your lead and pass the
slides. We have it now.
Okay.
It's on. Mm-hmm.
Okay. So
my name is Tom Bellino from DPD, requesting authorization for the
sale of city-owned land at 419 East 50th Street,
which is located in the 20th Ward, and we have a letter of
support from Alderwoman Taylor. It's in the Grand Boulevard community
area in the Southeast planning region.
The applicant is Craig Yarborough of Click Development,
who is offering the market sale price of
$78,000. And this was seen
and approved by the Historic Preservations
Project Review Committee in April of this year.
And so I'll go over the site context.
There is one parcel. It is a 25
by 122-foot
parcel.
And
the developer, as I mentioned, is Click Development, and the
proposed architect for the site is Pavlovich Architecture.
Go to the next site context slide and show that the zoning
is RM-5, and you can see the site context photo
there. The applicant is proposing construction of a four-unit
multifamily rental building and a parking pad with three
parking spaces. You can also see there that the parcel
is within the Washington Park Court Historic District,
which is why it needed to go before the Historic Preservation
Review Committee. And so I'll go to the next slide to show
the
project financial information, and you can see
that the total project cost is About
almost $1.3 million.
And the next slide shows the site plan with
50th Street on the right and the alley on the left
with the parking pad.
The next slide shows elevations,
which are the front elevations that will face
50th Street.
The next slide has the side and rear elevations,
showing the sides of the building and
the back.
And the final slide has the floor plans.
You can see each floor
has a different unit and you can see the
arrangement there. So, that's all I have on this one.
Happy to go back or answer any questions.
Any questions by committee members on this item?
Otherwise, can I get a motion to move? So moved by Alderperson Scott.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item number nine is ordinance
2026-0026374, sale of
city-owned property at 4242, 4244, and
4246 South
Lawrence Avenue to Landex Holding Company LLC
and their Chat Block builder in the fourth ward.
Thomas Bellino again from DPD to present on this ordinance.
Go ahead, Tom.
Thank you. Thank you. Again, for the record, this is Tom Bellino from DPD,
here to request authorization for the sale of city-owned land at
4242 through 4246 South St.
Lawrence Avenue.
You can see on the next slide the project location
is
in the fourth ward, and we have a letter of support from Alderman
Robinson.
It's in the Grand Boulevard community area again, and the Southeast planning
region. This is three city-owned lots, and the applicant, which
is Landex Holding Company, which is related to JD Housing,
they are offering above
market value price. The market value is $202,000, and they're
offering $205,000
for a total development cost of almost one point eight million.
And on the next slide, you can see the site context.
There are multiple parcels
considered in that red box, but that's the total area.
And on the next slide, you can see an aerial view as well as the zoning.
It is zoned RT4, and there is no proposed change to that.
On the next slide, there are some project details.
And you can see that the proposal is a construction of two
three-unit buildings and two garages for three cars each.
The lot is 62.7 by 126
feet.
The combined lots, I should say.
On the next slide, you can see the project financials,
and the total development cost of almost $1.8
million.
On the next slide, there's a site plan,
and on the left is St. Lawrence Avenue, and on the right is the
alley with the garages, and you can see those two buildings will
have the same footprint.
On the next slide are the
front and south elevations.
And on the next slide are the rear and north elevations of
these two buildings.
And on the last slide, you can see the floor plans.
There is a basement and up through third floors
for each of the buildings.
And that's all I have on this one. Happy to go back or answer any questions.
Thank you. We also received a request from Alderman Dowell to continue
the rest of the meeting using Rule 59.
Can I get a motion to allow her to participate via remote means?
So moved by Alderperson Manah-Happenworth. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. Now we have Alderman Dowell join us
via remote means.
Are there any questions for this item?
Otherwise, can I get a motion to move by Alderperson Scott?
All those in favor say aye. All those oppose say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 10 is ordinance 2026-0026381, sale of
city-owned property at 4306 West Chamberlain Avenue to
Ramirez Construction Service Inc.
under Chat Block builder platform in the 36th ward.
Thomas Bellino again from DPD to present on this ordinance. Go ahead, Tom.
Thank you. Again, for the record, this is Tom Bellino from DPD,
here to request authorization for the sale of city-owned land at
4306 West Chamberlain Avenue.
On the next slide, you can see the project information.
The address, 4306 West Chamberlain in the 36th ward,
and we have a letter of support from Alderman Villegas.
This is in the Humboldt Park community area in the west planning region.
The applicant is Carlos Romero of Romero's Construction
Service. He is offering the market value
price of $24,829,
with a total development cost of
$374,500.
On the next slide, you can see the site context with
some focus on these people's new neighbor's dog,
which I thought was worth pointing out.
On the next slide, you can see the aerial and zoning.
The zoning is an RS zone, which
Typically prohibits multifamily construction.
However, the existing block, as you can see in the photo,
is predominantly multifamily housing already.
So we expect that
the zoning board will approve an exemption based on
that.
On the next slide, you can see the project details.
The applicant is proposing construction of a two-unit building and
garage parking for two cars. You can see it's one city
parcel with the dimensions of 33 by
124 feet.
And the architect is Cruz Designs & Consultants, led by Mario
Cruz.
And you can see in the photo there, there's just a rendering of the front
facade.
On the next slide, you can see the project
financials. This project is funded completely with equity,
so hopefully that means it'll move very quickly once
we pass city council.
And again, the total project cost is $374,500.
On the next slide, you can see the site plan with Kamerling Avenue on the left
and the alley and garage and backyard on the right.
On the next slide, you can see the front and rear architectural
drawings.
And on the next slide, you can see one of the side
elevations, and on the next slide, the other side elevation.
The slide after that has the floor plan for
the garden unit,
which is three bedrooms.
And the slide after that has the floor plans for the duplex unit,
which is the
ground
floor and the second floor combined, and that is a total of six bedrooms.
On the next slide, you can see the front and rear renderings.
And on the last slide, there's just a building section, which shows
what each floor looks like if you were to cut the
building in half. So that's all I've got on this one.
Happy to answer any questions or go back to anything.
Any questions on this item?
No. Alderman Villegas, I know this is your ward.
This is the item number 10.
Sorry about that.
I don't know if you want to add anything.
No, Mr. Chairman, I think that this is just an opportunity.
This is a vacant lot that's been sitting on the city's
tax roll.
I'm sorry, not paying any taxes. We want to go ahead and reactivate it.
So we approve this sale and looking forward for it to get done and bring some
additional housing to the area. So I ask for my colleagues to support. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. So moved by Alderperson Scott. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposing, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. Item 11 is
Ordinance 2026-0026266,
Intergovernmental Agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority, CTA,
to exchange property at 3925 West
Cermak Road for city-owned property at 402, 409, 412,
414, 416, and 418 North Harding Avenue,
3828 West Lake Street, 4612 through
4626 West Van Buren Street, and 4218,
4220, 4224, 4226, and
4228 West Taylor Street in the 22nd, 24th, and
37th
wards
respectively. Taylor Thompson from the Department of Planning and Development is
here to present on this item. Go ahead, Taylor.
Thanks, Chairman, members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Taylor Thompson, Department of Planning and Development.
This item is the proposed land exchange between the city and CTA.
In terms of the land exchange location, the proposal consists of 18
city-owned sites that would be conveyed to CTA in exchange for one
CTA-owned parcel located at 3925 West Cermak
Road.
These sites are located within the 22nd, 24th, and 37th wards.
And note that all affected orders are in support of this exchange.
In terms of the project summary, the city is pursuing this land exchange to support
the coordinated redevelopment of the One Lawndale Recreational Center,
a major community-driven investment led by Lawndale Christian Development
Corporation. The exchange enables assembly of land
required to implement the PD 1610 redevelopment plan,
reuse of the former CTA yard at 3925 West Cermak as the
primary redevelopment site, alignment with DPD's long-term
planning objectives of North Lawndale and South Lawndale,
as well as the West Side community,
as well as consolidation of city-owned land to enable more
efficient CTA operations.
In terms of the site to be... Excuse me. Go back.
There's no funding request associated with the action, and the exchange value is $1
per parcel. Land will be conveyed within 120 days to allow
CTA to remove their storage to the city-owned
sites. In terms of the site that
the city will acquire from CTA, the parcel at 3925 West Cermak is
currently a CTA storage yard. It is approximately
204,000 square feet and zoned PD 1610, which
translates to a C1-1.
PD passed City Council December 2025.
CPC passed November 2025.
The parcel will serve as the
site for the Lawndale Recreational Center.
The One Lawndale Recreational Center is envisioned as a state-of-the-art community
resource offering
indoor turf fields, five-four sized basketball courts, boxing and
fitness spaces, wrestling studio, additional youth and community rooms,
and additional amenities
The project represents a $38 million investment.
It's projected to create 120 construction jobs, 35 permanent jobs,
and will serve as a hub for youth development, recreation, health services, and
violence prevention and programming.
We'll also offer mentoring and mental health support.
In terms of the sites that will be conveyed to CTA,
the exchange includes 11 sites in the 24th Ward
and seven sites in the 37th Ward.
Total of 18 city-owned sites that will support CTA process consolidation and
operational efficiency.
That concludes my presentation. Here to answer any questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Taylor. Are there any questions on these items?
Otherwise, I move by Alderwoman Scott. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation on this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 12 is Ordinance 2026-0026382,
sale of city-owned property at 3643 South Martin Luther King Drive
to 4643 South Martin Luther King Drive, LLC, under
Block Builder Platform in the 4th Ward.
Seth Thomas from the Department of Planning and Development is here to testify in
this ordinance. Seth.
Yeah. Hi, good afternoon, Chairman Cincho Lopez and
aldermen. This is land sale of 3643
South MLK Boulevard. This was part of the October 2025 Chi
Block Builder round. So,
the address of the property, again, 3643 South Martin Luther King Boulevard,
in the Douglas community area, in the 4th Ward and the Southeast planning
region. Alderman Robinson is in support.
The site's about 33 by 125. The zoning is RM-5.
And although the market value was just a little bit over
$110,000, we accepted a $125,000
bid for the lot. And the applicant is Shreya Singh of
3643 South MLK Drive, LLC.
Here's an aerial of the lot and its location on MLK.
This is a picture of the lot,
looking east.
And so, for a project summary, this is a new construction of a
four-story, four-unit residential building.
Each unit will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and three on-site parking
spaces.
Again, we accepted a bid of $125,000, and the total
project cost is about
$1.125 million.
Here's the project budget. The applicant's looking at about
30% equity and 70% loans.
And here's a site plan and kind of a floor plan
combination of sort of the layout of the proposed structure.
And then here are both the east and west elevations, so the
front and rear elevations,
along with
the side elevations and a rendering of the proposed
structure. That's all I have. I'm open for any questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Seth.
Are there
any questions,
Alderman? Otherwise, we'll move by Alderwoman Anna Happenworth.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 13, ordinance
2026-0026383, sale of city-owned
property at 4222 South Langley Avenue to Trimatch
Partners, LLC, under Chi Block Builder Platform in the 4th Ward.
Seth Thomas, again from DPD to present on this item.
Hi again. Seth Thomas from Department of Planning and
Development. So, this again,
4222 South Langley Avenue. This is, again, part of the October 2025 Chi
Block Builder round. This is in the Grand Boulevard community area in the 4th Ward.
Alderman Robinson, again, in support.
The lot is about 25 by 125 or 3,125 square
feet. And we accepted a market value application
of $94,397 from the applicant, Desiree
Leach of Trimatch Partners, LLC.
Here's an aerial of the lot,
along with the zoning. The zoning of this lot is RT-4.
Here is a view of the lot from Langley Avenue.
And as far as the project overview, in summary,
the proposition is a new construction of a three-story, three-dwelling unit
residential structure with a detached three-car garage.
The total project cost is just under $900,000.
This applicant is about 20% equity, with 80%
in loans and financing.
And here's a site plan of the structure as proposed.
I believe the applicant has built a very similar building
along Langley Avenue as well.
Here are the floor plans. Again, this is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom units
for each of the three units. And then this is the front elevation,
facing Langley. And then the corresponding
south elevation and north elevation on the sides of the building.
And again, the west elevation is the restructure.
That's all I have. I'm open for any questions. Thank you.
Thank you. I also want to recognize Alderman Irving for the purpose of the
quorum. Are there any questions on this item?
Otherwise, I call the floor moves by Alderman Villegas.
So, it's moved by Alderman Villegas. All those in favor say aye.
All those oppose say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 14 is ordinance
2026-0026365, sale of
city-owned property at 4013, 4019, 4031,
and 4033 West Jackson Boulevard.
True Delta, LLC, under Chi Block Builder Missing Middle
Infill Housing Initiative in the 28th Ward.
Mark Jones from the Department of Planning and Development is here to
testify on behalf of this ordinance.
Go ahead, Mark. The floor is yours.
Good afternoon. My name is Mark Jones.
I am a planner in the West Region of the Department of Planning and
Development, and I am here to present a missing middle project in
West Garfield Park, Cluster F.
The developer for this missing middle project is True Delta
LLC. We received a letter of support from
Alderman Irvin on April 27th, 2026, and as I said, the
community area is West Garfield Park in the West Region.
This is the third round of the Missing Middle Initiative,
where we offer vacant city-owned parcels to
developers for infill housing for a land write-down of $1
per parcel and up to $150,000 per unit
subsidy.
The parcels in acquisition are four parcels
highlighted as Cluster F.
All four parcels are at around 3,100 square
feet each, and a market valuation of around
9,300 each. And those addresses are
4013 West Jackson, 4019 West Jackson,
4031 West Jackson, and 4033 West Jackson
Boulevard.
As I mentioned before, the developer for this cluster is True Delta
LLC. The proposal is for a total of eight units on
those four parcels, and that is a composition of four two-flats,
which are two and three-bedroom units.
The floor plan's a little hard to see, but the first floor is where you see the
two-bedroom unit, and then the second and third floors
duplex into the three-bedroom units for a total project
cost of about $3.1 million, which comes out to
about $389,000 per unit, and the
timeline is one construction phase.
The developer is bringing a little under $500,000
in equity, which is about 15% of the project budget,
and about $1.4 million in lender financing.
And our HED bond fund of $1.2 million,
which brings that total to about $3.1 million for their
total sources. Acquisition of $4 for the
$1 per parcel.
Hard cost of about $2.4 million, and soft
cost at about $648,000, and other
for $40,000, which makes up that total of
$3.1 million.
And that is pretty much it. We have the developer here if
you guys want him to come up and say any words,
and if you have any questions for me as well.
Thank you. I know Alderman
Irving is here.
So Alderman Irving want to say a few words, and the applicant as well is here.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Again, this is a missing middle projects.
Actually, the first one in the Garfield Park community that is moving forward.
We have seen in what this has done in North Lawndale, and again, this is a strip
of Jackson Boulevard, in West Garfield Park
for the infield development. So we have, I believe there are
four in total. We had six clusters
that were done, and we had
positive applications on four. So we have
another one that's on the agenda now, and then we have two more that will be coming
to us at a later date. But overall, the community in support of this, we
actually had all four of the development teams out about
two, three months ago in a kind of like a charrette of all,
over at the Garfield Park Field House, and these were all
well-received by members of the community, and I'll ask the committee's support on
this one and the next one.
Thank you, Chairman. Are there any questions on this item?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move?
So moved by Alderman Villegas. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. The next item, also in the 28th
Ward, Ordinance 2026-0026401,
sale of city-owned property at 3527 West Adam Street,
3500 West Jackson Boulevard,
3039 South Homan Avenue,
3321 West Gladys Avenue to Citizens Building a
Better Community, LLC, under Chic Block Builder Missing Middle
Infill Housing Initiative, in the 28th Ward.
Alejandro Valverde from the Department of Planning and Development is here to
testify on behalf of this ordinance. Go ahead, Alejandro. The floor is yours.
Thank you. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon.
My name for the record is Alejandro Valverde.
I'm an urban designer in the West Region.
I'm here to present a missing middle project,
a land sale.
It's Cluster A in the West Region
and
in the East Garfield Park.
The developer is Citizen Building a Better Community, LLC,
in the 28th Ward with Alderman Jason Irving.
We have support from the alderman.
Here is the four parcels,
3527 West Adam Street.
The area is 3,500 square feet.
The market valuation of the parcel is at
$10,725
approximately. Dimensions of that parcel is
25 by 140.
Next parcel is
35000 West Jackson Boulevard.
Area is 9,286 square
feet.
The value of the land is
37,268
Dimensions is 65 feet by 142 feet.
Next parcel is 339 South Homan Avenue,
at an area of 12,159
square feet.
The value of the land of that parcel is
$48,636.
Dimensions are 99.8 feet
by 122 feet.
Last parcel is 3321 West Gladys Avenue.
The area is 2,490 square feet.
The value is
$7,470. The
dimensions of the parcel is 25 feet by
99.67 feet.
This slide deck displays the
architecture proposal.
It consists of a total of nine buildings.
Six buildings are going to have three flats.
The other three buildings are going to have four flats.
That will give us a total of 30 units per parcel,
and it consists of around two to three bedrooms per unit.
The total project cost is
$10,000,619.
The cost per unit is around
$354,000,
and this is going to be in one phase.
Here, this slide deck displays the different
plans for
each parcel.
I'm not going to repeat the address, but the
first one is one building
with a total of two units
in an RT4 zoning.
It consists of three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Next one, it's
three buildings
with four unit per building
that give us a total of 12 units.
This one is four buildings, total of two units
per building,
and
a total of 12 units on the whole parcel.
The last one is one building and total of three units.
The budget of this project,
the developer is bringing an equity of $500,000.
The lender financing is about $5,000,619.
The bond
is $4,500,000, and the total sources is
$10,000,619.
The acquisition is $1 per parcel, so that give us $4.
The hard cost is $9,711,000.
Soft cost,
$870,000.
Other cost, $38,000, and the total cost,
$10,000,619.
This concludes this presentation.
I'm open for any questions or answers.
Thank you, Alejandro. Alderman Irvin, I know this isn't your ward.
Alder- Alderman Villegas, you have a question, and then Alderman Irvin.
Thank you, Chairman.
The housing equity bond, I think the threshold is $5
million before it has to come to the city council, correct?
Yes.
Could you provide, through the chair, a list of all the projects
that have utilized the
HED
bond funds below the $5 million threshold that has not
sought the council approval?
Yeah, we will.
Okay. And then my other question is, around the HED bonds,
does it trigger any type of affordability, or is it just more of
an opportunity to close the
gap to make a pencil project?
Sorry, Alderman. Let me see.
No, that's fine. Again.
To my knowledge, it doesn't trigger any affordability issues.
I take it as to just close that gap and provide assistance for these projects.
Okay, cool. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
And I do support the project, just wanted to...
Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Irvin.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And also to Chairman Villegas's question
regarding affordability, the
design of these, of course, is for homeownership and the
support of the 150 per unit to offset
the building cost and design for homeownership.
These all have to be owner-occupied.
I think there's a five-year window for owner occupancy on these.
This is the Fifth City Cluster is what I call it, because this is
all-- And if you go back historically, a lot of the land in this
area had been acquired by the city of Chicago dating back to the early
2000s, when at that point in time, there was a desire to build a
circuit court in that immediate area.
So there's a lot of vacant land in this specific area that was
acquired with the hopes and anticipation of building a court building that
roughly would've been bounded by Homan, Jackson, Spaulding,
and right there at Van Buren. So there's a series of lots in this
area that were acquired, that are now being put back to
productive use. Ironically, I actually happen to live
on Jackson in an area that was to be taken by the
building of the court, and I live in a relatively newer
property that was built in 2006, 2007, and this,
had it not been for the market changes in 2008, this area would look
totally different. And now we're essentially getting our footing back and being
able to bring not only
... homeownership, but also rental and homeownership,
which is what I really desired, is the community wanted to see
homeownership, but also preserve the ability for homeowners to have rental income
with these properties, which is the typical Chicago two-flat
story. So in this case, we've got threes and
fours in this area, and also some twos in this particular cluster.
And this area has had a strong level of homeownership and pride in
it. And even though it's located in the East Garfield Park community, it's commonly
known as Fifth City. So, thank you all for the support, and we really
appreciate everything that's happening from the Department of Housing and DPD
relating to bringing homeowners back to the west side of Chicago. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman.
Can I get a motion for Alderman Villegas to move on this item?
All those in favor say, "Aye." All those opposed say, "Nay." In the opinion of the
chair, the ayes have it. The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be
reported out at the next city council meeting on July 15.
Thank you, Alderman Ervin. And the next item, item 16, is ordinance
2026-0026397, sell of
city-owned property at 2438, 2442,
2444, and 2445 West 34th
Place to M3 Chicago LLC under Block Builder Missing Middle
Infill Housing Initiative in the 12th Ward.
Erica Selke from the Department of Planning is here to testify on this ordinance.
Thank you, Erica.
Thank you. My name is Erica Selke. I am the lead planner for the
southwest region with the Department of Planning and Development.
As mentioned, this is another Missing Middle cluster in McKinley Park,
in the southwest region.
There are four pins, and they're proposed to be sold to
M3 Chicago LLC. It's within the 12th
Ward, under Alderwoman Ramirez, and we
have a letter of support from the alderwoman in your packet.
I won't go through the Missing Middle description again, but it's the same
program that was just discussed.
As I mentioned, there are four pins in McKinley Park, just west of
Western Avenue at 34th Place.
Three of the pins are 24 feet wide by
124 feet deep. One of the pins is 48 feet
wide. And the
purchaser developer will split this pin into two,
and build two buildings.
So there will be a total of five buildings.
Each will hold two units. One will be owner-occupied.
So there will be 10 total units. They're all three-bedroom units.
The total project cost is $4.24 million,
and that works out to about
$444,000. There will be one construction
phase.
This is a rendering of the proposed
development. Two different building designs,
each holding two units.
Project budget, as I mentioned, is $4.24 million.
And you can see the sources and uses
here for a total of $1.5 million in HED
bonds from DPD.
That is my presentation. The developer,
Gerardo Garcia, is in attendance if there are any questions
specific to the project. Thank you.
Yes.
Just
a question on terms of the
Missing Middle. I know that Alderman Villegas did ask
this.
Also, maybe
for the purpose of
the committee, how much from the housing fund was used for this project
on the bond?
Sure. So for this particular
development is a total of
$1.5 million. That's
$150,000 per unit that will be constructed.
Got it. Thank you so much.
Yeah, I don't know if there's any questions.
Otherwise, can I get a move by Alderman Villegas?
So moved by Alderman Villegas. All those in favor say, "Aye." All
opposed say, "Nay." In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of these ordinance will be reported out at the next
city council meeting on July 15, 2026. Thank you so much, Erica.
And
the next one is a substitute,
2026-0026388, sale of city-owned property at
4903 South Forest Ville Avenue to CentreCourt Development
LLC under Block Builder in the 4th Ward.
Ernest Bellamy from the Department of Planning and Development is present to
testify on behalf of this ordinance. Thank you.
Thank you, Ernest.
Thank you as well, Chairman Central Lopez and members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I am a development land sale city planner within the Department of Planning and
Development.
I bring forward to you today a request for disposition of one city
parcel
at
4903 South Forest Ville Avenue.
In attendance today is Kamal Murray of CentreCourt Development
LLC.
And
as mentioned, the
land disposition is within the 4th Ward, Alderman Lamont Robinson,
within the Grand Boulevard community area of the southeast planning region.
The disposition consists of one city lot under RM-5
zoning.
As
a April 2025 Chi
Block Builder applicant,
the purchaser
is a long-time developer within the Grand Boulevard community area.
On June 4th, Alderman Robinson provided a letter of support
for the land disposition.
As an overview, the purchaser is proposing to develop one
new 12-unit, four-story residential building with six-car
parking pad. The applicant's offer amount
of $215,000
was
roughly $3,000 above the market value sale price for the city
lot.
The total project cost
for the proposed development will be
$3,056,700,
with a construction timeline of six months to commence
six months after the
closing on the city
lot.
The city lot is located
on the southeast corner of the intersection of East 49th Street
and South Forestville Avenue. The combined lot dimensions
are roughly 80.75 feet by
125 feet.
The land disposition net area is 10,094 square feet.
For greater context of the parcel
within the Grand Boulevard community area,
the
site is a transit-served location, located
roughly half a mile walking distance from the CTA Green Line
51st Street Station and served by multiple
CTA TSL bus lines within a two to
three-block radius.
Furthermore, the parcel for disposition is centered within dense blocks
of predominantly residential buildings with a few vacant lots
interspersed.
Transitioning to the street view of the site at the intersection of South
Forestville and East 49th Street,
we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the immediate
surrounding residential developments.
As seen in this eye-level elevation
rendering, the proposal will span four
floors and contain 12 units.
There will be one unit of ARO.
As of April 2025 Chi Block Builder applicant,
the purchaser has gone through DPD's review process for applicability to zoning
and design standards for this development.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the residential
building, which fronts South Forestville Avenue.
The site will have a six-car parking pad accessible from the alleyway.
Next are the floor plans.
The first floor consisting of four two-bed, one-bath units.
The second floor also consists of four two-bed, one-bath units.
And the third floor consists of two
two-bed, one-bath units
and two three-bed, two-bath units, of which
the third unit
is on the fourth floor.
On the fourth floor is a shared roof terrace accessible to all
units via
stairwells.
Lastly
is one final elevation from East 49th Street, reflecting how the
balcony spaces help to break up the mass of the
facade along the street.
The building will be clad in brick with wood cladding as the
secondary facade material to be utilized adjacent to the
balconies.
Here concludes my presentation.
I'll hold here for any
comments from the committee.
Thank you so much. Can I then accept the substitute by Alderman Villegas?
So moved by Alderman Villegas. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed nay.
The substitute was approved. And then I am going to ask Alderman
Dowell to
move on this item. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. Item 18, and we
only have a few left, so thank you for bearing with us.
Ordinance 2026-0026, 35-4, sale of city-owned
property at 3719 South Giles Avenue
to Crown Construction Company under Chi Block Builder in the Third Ward.
Ernest Bellamy from Department of Planning, again, here to testify on this
ordinance. Go ahead, Ernest.
Thank you, Chairman Sigcho-Lopez, and
good afternoon once again, members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I am a land sale city planner in the Department of Planning and Development.
I bring forward to you today a request for a disposition of one city
parcel at 3719 South Giles.
The location of this disposition is within the Third Ward,
Alderman Pat Dowell, within the Douglas
community area of the Southeast planning region.
The disposition consists of one city parcel under RM-5 zoning.
As an October 2025 Chi Block Builder
applicant, the purchaser,
Gary O'Holleran of Crown Construction, is a long-time developer
within the Douglas community area.
On June 4th
Alder Dowell provided a letter of support for the land disposition.
As an overview, the purchaser
is proposing to develop one new, three-unit,
three-story residential building with a three-car garage.
The applicant offer amount of $95,000 was
$17,760 above the market value sale
price of the city lot.
The project cost for the
proposed development will be
$895,000,
with a construction timeline of six months
to commence development after needing
one month to close.
Moving on, the city lot is located within the 3700
block of South Giles.
The combined lot dimensions are roughly 25 feet by
124 feet. The land
disposition net area is
3,103 square feet.
For greater site context
of the parcel within the Douglas community area,
the site is a transit serve location located
just under half a mile walking distance from the CTA Green Line
Indiana station,
and served by multiple CTA TSL bus lines within a two-block
radius.
Furthermore, the parcel for disposition resides across the
street from Ida B. Wells Elementary and is centered within a block
of predominantly
residential buildings with vacant lots under
development interspersed in between.
Transitioning to the street view along South Giles,
we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the immediate
surrounding recently completed residential developments.
As seen in this color elevation, the proposal will span
three floors and contain three
units.
Once more, as of October 2025, Chi Block Builder
application,
the purchaser has gone through DPD's review process for
applicability to zoning and design standards for this development.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the
residential building, which fronts South Giles Avenue.
The site will have a three-car parking garage
accessible from the alleyway.
Next are the floor plans. From left to right is
the first-floor plan consisting of a three-bed, two-bath unit.
The second floor, also consisting of a three-bed, two-bath unit,
and the third floor,
like the others, consisting of a three-bed, two-bath unit.
The elevations are seen here. The materiality of the building will be
brick frame and stone on the front facade, and
smooth dry block with a silicone waterproofing on the
side and rear elevations.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any comments from the committee.
Thank you, Ernest. Are there any questions by committee members?
Alderman
Dowell, I'm not sure if you want to add anything or...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just ask the committee for
support for this development.
We've got a lot of vacant lots in the ward and trying to
dispose of them to get housing done,
so we can attract more amenities. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman. So we've got a motion by Alderman Villegas to move on this
item, so move. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 19, also in the Third Ward. Ordinance
2026-0026379, sale of city-owned property at
4223 South Calumet Avenue to Crown Construction
Company under Chi Block Builder platform, also in the Third Ward.
Ernest Bellamy, again from DPD, to present on this item.
Thank you, Chairman Citron-Lopez,
and good afternoon once more to the members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I am the development land sales city planner in the Department of Planning and
Development. I bring forward to you today a request for
disposition of one city parcel at
4223 South Calumet Avenue.
The applicant, Jerry O'Halloran of Crown Construction, could
not attend today,
having had a conflict at this hour.
The location of the disposition is within
the Third Ward,
Alderwoman Pat Dowell,
within the Grand Boulevard community area of the southeast planning region.
The disposition consists of one city lot under RM-5
zoning.
As an October 2025 Chi Block Builder
applicant, the purchaser,
Jerry O'Halloran of Crown Construction, is a longtime developer
within the Grand Boulevard community area.
On June 4th,
Alder Dowell provided a letter of support for the land
disposition.
As an overview, the purchaser is proposing to develop one new,
three-story, three-unit residential building with a
three-car parking pad.
The applicant's offer amount of $90,000 was
$11,433 above the market value sale
price for the city lot
The total project cost for the proposed development will
be $890,000,
with a construction timeline of six months to commence one
month after closing.
The city lot is located within the 4200 block of South
Calumet Avenue.
The combined lot dimensions are 24 feet wide
by 126.5 feet,
which leads to a land disposition net area of roughly
3,036 square feet.
For greater site context of the parcel within the Grand Boulevard community
area, the site is a transit-served location,
located one-tenth of a mile walking distance from the CTA Green Line
43rd Street Station, and served by a
CTA TSL bus line within a one-block radius of the site.
Furthermore, the parcel for disposition is centered within a
block of predominantly residential buildings,
with vacant lots interspersed in between.
Transitioning to the street view of the site along South Calumet
Avenue, we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the
immediate surrounding residential developments.
As seen in this color elevation, the proposal will span
three floors containing three units.
Furthermore,
the purchaser has gone through DPD's review
process for applicability to zoning and design standards for
development.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the residential building,
which fronts South
Calumet Avenue.
The site will have a
three-car parking pad accessible from the alleyway.
Next are the floor plans.
From left to right
is the
first floor,
second floor in the middle, and third floor at the end.
All floors contain their own individual
three-bed, two-bath unit.
The elevations are seen here.
The materiality of the building will be brick frame and stone on the
front facade and smooth dry block with a silicone
waterproofing on the side and rear elevations.
I'll hold here for any questions from the committee.
Thank you, Ernest. Are there any questions?
Alderwoman Dao, any
words on this item?
No, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just ask for the committee's support of
this item. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman.
Can I get a motion by Alderman Villegas to move on this item?
So move, Alderman Villegas. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
Item 20 is ordinance 20260026378,
sale of city-owned property at 4256 South
Lawrence Avenue to Jack Properties LLC under Jack Block Builder platform in
the Fourth Ward. Ernest Bellamy from DPD, again, to present on this item.
Thank you again, Chairman Cecilia Lopez and members of the committee.
Thank you. For the record, once more, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I'm a development land sales city planner within the Department of Planning and
Development. I bring forward to you today a request for
disposition of one city parcel at 4256
South St. Lawrence Avenue.
The location of this disposition is within the Fourth Ward, Alderman
Lamont Robinson, within the Grand Boulevard community
area of the Southeast planning region.
The disposition consists of one city lot
under RT4 zoning.
In October 2025, Chi Block Builder applicant, the purchaser,
Jay Clark of Jack Properties, is a longtime developer
within the Grand Boulevard community area.
On June 5th, Alderman Robinson provided a letter of
support for the land disposition.
As an overview, the purchaser is proposing to develop two new
three-story, three-unit residential
buildings with a three-car garage per building.
The applicant's offer amount of $200,000
was $7,822 above the
market value sale price of the city lot.
The total project cost for the proposed development will be
$1.8 million,
with a construction timeline of six months to commence one month
after closing.
The city lot is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of East
43rd Street and South St. Lawrence Avenue.
The combined lot dimension is roughly
126 feet
by 55.25 feet,
which
provides us a overall land disposition net area of
6,863 square feet.
Mm-hmm.
For greater site context of the parcel within the Grand Boulevard community
area,
the site is a transit-served location located
roughly three-eighths of a mile walking distance from the
CTA Green Line 43rd Street Station and served by
multiple CTA TSL bus lines within a four-block
radius of the site. Furthermore, the parcel for
disposition is centered within a block of predominantly
residential buildings
with vacant lots interspersed in between.
Transitioning to the street view of the site, at the intersection
of South
St. Lawrence Avenue and East 43rd Street, we get a better sense of
the parcel in context with the immediate surrounding residential
developments.
As seen in this elevation,
the proposal will span three floors
and include a basement and contain three units
total.
As an October 2025 Chi Block Builder
application, the purchaser has gone through DPD's
review process for applicability to zoning and design
standards for development.
The overall site plan,
as seen here, shows the layout of the residential buildings, which will
front South St. Lawrence Avenue. The site will have
a three-car garage for each building, accessible through the
alleyway.
Next are the floor plans.
From left to right is the duplex down basement
plan, which consists of two bedrooms, one bath,
and the first floor, which consists of three beds, two bath,
for a total of a five-bed,
three-bath
duplex down unit.
The second floor
will consist of a three-bed, two-bath unit, and the third
floor equally will consist of a three-bed, two-bath unit.
The elevations are seen here.
Starting with 4256,
the materiality of that building will be
face brick
and precast stone on the front façade and smooth dry block
with silicone waterproofing on the side and rear elevations.
The materiality of the
4258 building will be similar
to the
4256. However, on the
southern-facing façade, which fronts East 43rd Street,
that façade will also be clad in brick.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any
questions from the committee.
Thank you, Ernest.
Can I get a motion, then maybe Alderman Dowd to move on this item?
All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026.
I know Alejandro Valverde just left, but we wanted to wish him
the best. This was his last housing and real estate committee meeting
with DPD. He'll be leaving soon, so we wish him the best, and I'm sorry that we
didn't say it before he left. But thank you for all your work, Alejandro.
The last item is Ordinance 2026-0026377,
sale of city-owned property at 48 North Pine
Avenue to West Side Health Authority on the Chi Block Builder
platform in the 29th Ward. Ernest Bellamy from DPD
to present on this item.
Thank you once more, Chairman Citral López and members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I'm a development land sale city planner in the Department of Planning and
Development.
I bring forward to you my final project for today, a
request for land disposition of one city parcel at 48 North
Pine Avenue.
In attendance today
was Morris Reed, CEO of West Side Health
Authority.
He was here earlier but
couldn't stay given a conflict that he has at this hour.
The location of this disposition is within the 29th Ward,
Alderman Chris Tagliaferro, within the Austin community
area of the West Planning region. The
disposition consists of one city lot under RT4
zoning.
In April 2025, Chi Block Builder applicant, the purchaser, West
Side Health Authority, is a longtime developer within the Austin
community area.
On June 3rd, Alderman Tagliaferro provided a letter of support
for the land disposition.
As an overview, the purchaser is proposing to develop one new
three-unit, three-story residential building with a three-car parking
pad.
The applicant's offer amount of $16,608
matches the market value sale price for the city lot.
Total project cost for the proposed development will be
$607,183,
with a construction timeline of 10 months to
commence two months after
closing on the land disposition.
The city lot is located within the 100 block of North
Pine Avenue.
The combined lot dimensions are roughly
31.75 feet by
177.5 feet,
which gives us a land disposition net area of
5,636 square feet.
For greater site context of the parcel within the Austin community area,
the site is a transit serve location located just
under half a mile walking distance from
the CTA Green Line Central Station and served by
multiple CTA bus lines within a one-block
radius.
Furthermore, the parcel for disposition is centered within a block
of predominantly residential buildings and near adjacent to the
Aspire Center.
Transitioning to the street view of the site along
North Pine Avenue, we can get a better sense of the
parcel in context with the immediate surrounding residential
developments.
As seen in this rendered elevation, the proposal will span three floors
and contain three units.
As an April 2025 Chi Block Builder applicant,
the purchaser has gone through DPD's review process for applicability to zoning and
design standards for this development.
The overall site plan, as shown here,
provides a layout of the residential building which will front
North Pine Avenue.
The site will have a three-car parking pad accessible from the alleyway.
Next are the floor plans.
From left to right is a duplex down
unit, starting with the basement plan, which consists of two bedrooms,
one bath,
and the first floor consisting of two bed, two bath,
for a total
of a four-bed, three-bath unit for this duplex down
unit.
Next
are the
floor plans for the second and third floor.
Each floor will consist of
one unit, which will be a three-bed, two-bath unit.
Next are the elevations. As seen here is the front elevation,
of which the materiality will be of face
brick and stone
on the front façade
and Hardie Board for the side and rear elevations
as seen here.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any questions from the
committee.
Are there any questions by committee members?
Otherwise, Alderman Taylor will move on this item.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15, 2026. There being no further business
before the committee,
also Alderman Taylor will move motion to adjourn.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The Committee on Housing and Real Estate officially adjourn
this meeting. Thank you all.