Englewood affordable apartments: a City loan and grant turn the old Woods school into 48 units

City financing approved Sept. 23 turns the former Woods Community Academy at 6206 S. Racine Ave. into about 48 affordable apartments and a health center.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 16, 2026

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward), inset, reads the Housing committee's report, including the Regenerator financing, at the City Council, Sept. 23, 2026City of Chicago video

Englewood is getting about 48 affordable apartments inside the former Woods Community Academy at 6206 S. Racine Ave. On Sept. 23, the City Council passed a substitute ordinance, SO2026-0027320, that lets the City lend up to $7,733,157 and grant up to $10,992,687 to the project and sell the closed school for $1. The vote was 50 to 0, and nobody debated it on the floor.

The building is in the 16th Ward, represented by Ald. Stephanie Coleman, in the West Englewood community area.

What gets built at the old school?

The developer, The Regenerator LLC, plans to rehabilitate the building and convert part of it into approximately 48 one- and two-bedroom apartments for low-, very low- and extremely low-income people and families, with common areas and a parking lot. Another part of the building is set aside for a federally qualified health center.

The City money goes only to the housing. The health center does not receive it, though the ordinance expects about $1,415,641 in escrowed funds to be assigned to the developer to pay for the health center's preliminary construction, enough for the building to qualify for a certificate of occupancy. The ordinance also bars using the property for a K-12 charter school, a condition the Board of Education set when it authorized the transfer in October 2020.

Where does the money come from?

The City's part has two pieces. The loan, up to $7,733,157 from the Department of Housing's Multi-Family Program Funds, runs 40 years at zero percent interest. It is non-recourse and secured by a mortgage on the property. The grant, up to $10,992,687, comes from Chicago Recovery Financing Plan funds for permanent supportive housing. It goes to Go Green Development Group, an Illinois not-for-profit, which contributes the money to the developer. The Recovery Financing Plan is backed by general obligation bonds of up to $660 million that the Council authorized in October 2021 and amended in October 2025.

The financing terms attached to the ordinance list the other sources:

$16,845,315 expected from selling low-income housing tax credits, from an allocation of about $1,982,000 by the City
$2,000,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank's Affordable Housing Program, through Go Green, at zero percent interest over 40 years
$1,300,000 in seller financing from Go Green, if the land transfer is not treated as a capital contribution
A $548,000 private loan from IFF at 7.25 percent interest over 17 years
$170,000 from a ComEd and Nicor affordable energy grant
$100 in equity from the managing member

Each piece can change if the Commissioner of Housing accepts different terms; the ordinance lets the department negotiate anything that does not substantially modify them, and the City financing is released only once the additional financing is approved and available.

Who owns the building now, and who will?

The Public Building Commission owns the school in trust for the Board of Education. The Council approved acquiring it for $1 in February 2021. An appraisal as of May 26, 2023, put its fair market value at $1,300,000. Under the ordinance, the City sells the property for $1 to the Inner City Muslim Action Network, known as IMAN, which immediately passes it to Go Green, which immediately passes it to The Regenerator LLC. Once the health center portion reaches preliminary construction, the developer conveys that part back to Go Green or another entity acceptable to the City.

The Regenerator LLC is a Wisconsin company. At closing, its managing member may be split about 51 percent to an affiliate of Go Green and about 49 percent to an affiliate of Gorman and Company, a Wisconsin firm.

How did the Council handle it?

Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced the ordinance on July 15. The Committee on Housing and Real Estate substituted it and recommended passage on Sept. 16. On Sept. 23, the committee's chair, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward), read it as item five of his report, from the Department of Housing, and moved passage as substituted by the same motion the Council had used for earlier items. The chair declared it so ordered. No alderperson spoke on it, and Coleman did not address it on the floor.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez reads the Regenerator financing item City Council, Sep 23, 2026 · 4:36:11–4:37:00

The ordinance did not go through the Committee on Finance; the Finance meetings of Sept. 14 and Sept. 22 did not take it up. The Clerk's record shows all 50 alderpersons voting yes and notes an unsuccessful motion to reconsider by Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th Ward).

How each ward voted

50 yea · Sep 23, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

SO2026-0027320: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What it means on your block

The former Woods Community Academy on Racine Avenue is set to become housing and a clinic. The 48 apartments are reserved for people with low, very low or extremely low incomes, and the ordinance deems the project Affordable Housing for purposes of Chapter 16-18 of the Municipal Code. The City's $7,733,157 loan is interest-free for 40 years, and the $10,992,687 grant does not have to be repaid; the City's security for both is a mortgage on the building.

Nothing in the record says when construction starts, when the apartments open, or what the rents will be. The financing closes only after the private pieces are approved and available. You can follow the ordinance and its attachments, including the financing terms and the deed, on the ordinance's page. Coleman's office is the place to ask about the timeline and how to apply for a unit.