Washington Park lot sale: $160,000 for 5316 S. King Drive and a 12-unit apartment building

R&D Builders LLC is buying the vacant City-owned lot through ChiBlockBuilder; the Council approved the sale 50–0 on Sept. 23 with no debate.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 16, 2026

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

A vacant City-owned lot at 5316 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Washington Park is set to become a 12-unit apartment building. On Sept. 23, the City Council approved its sale to R&D Builders LLC for $160,000, the lot's full market value, through the City's ChiBlockBuilder program. The ordinance, O2026-0027302, passed 50 to 0 in a group of five market-rate land sales, with no debate.

The ordinance's exhibit lists the lot in the 3rd Ward, represented by Ald. Pat Dowell, and the Washington Park community area, inside the 47th/State tax increment financing district.

What is being built?

The exhibit describes the project as a 12-unit multi-family rental building with five parking spaces. The lot is about 49 feet by 180 feet, 8,898 square feet, and zoned RM-5. The buyer proposes no zoning change and needs no approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The exhibit checks yes on whether the project will contain ARO units, affordable units under the City's Affordable Requirements Ordinance, but it does not say how many or at what rents.

The timeline in the exhibit: construction starts two months after closing and finishes eight months after it starts.

What is ChiBlockBuilder?

The ordinance explains the program. Through foreclosure of demolition liens, tax sales and other means, the City has acquired title to thousands of parcels that are costly to clean up and maintain, do not generate property taxes and are a detriment to the community. To sell them, the Department of Planning and Development created chiblockbuilder.com, where applicants can buy City-owned lots at predetermined market values and categories of use. This lot was offered for market-rate development. After a competitive application process, the department selected R&D Builders, an Illinois limited liability company. The public notice period ran April 1 to May 17, 2024.

What does the buyer have to do before closing?

The sale is as-is, with all title encumbrances. Before closing, R&D Builders must get the department's approval of its final construction plans and specifications; obtain building permits and any other required approvals; submit a final budget and proof of financing for the department's approval; and provide the closing documents the Corporation Counsel asks for, such as a title policy, survey and corporate authority papers. After closing, it must notify the Cook County Assessor that the lot has changed use and ownership. The department can waive any of these conditions at its sole discretion.

The deadline matters. If the buyer does not close within 180 days of the ordinance's passage and approval, the ordinance becomes null and void unless the Commissioner of Planning and Development extends the date. The buyer pays escrow fees, title insurance, recording fees and closing costs. The quitclaim deed carries a restriction requiring the buyer to complete the project described in the exhibit, and the City can convey to an affiliate of the buyer that the department approves.

How did the Council handle it?

Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced the ordinance on July 15 at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development, in a batch of City land sales. The Committee on Housing and Real Estate recommended it on Sept. 16.

On Sept. 23, the committee's chair, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward), presented it as one of items seven through 11 in his report, five market-rate ChiBlockBuilder sales in the 3rd, 4th and 37th Wards, and moved all five by the same motion the Council had used for earlier items. Hearing no objection, the chair declared them so ordered. Nobody spoke about the King Drive lot, and Dowell did not address it on the floor. The Clerk records all 50 alderpersons voting yes and an unsuccessful motion to reconsider by Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th Ward).

How each ward voted

50 yea · Sep 23, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

O2026-0027302: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez reads the Housing committee's land sales City Council, Sep 23, 2026 · 4:36:11–4:38:00

What it means on your block

A lot that has been sitting empty on King Drive, costing the City money and paying no taxes, becomes 12 rental apartments with five parking spaces, on a schedule of two months from closing to the start of construction and eight more to finish, if the buyer meets every step. The City gets $160,000, and the parcel goes back on the tax rolls once a private owner holds it.

What the record does not say is as important as what it does. There is no rent figure, no count of the ARO units, and no drawing of the building beyond its size and zoning. The deed restriction requires the project to be completed, but the ordinance leaves the department discretion to waive conditions and extend the closing date. The ordinance and its exhibit are posted on the ordinance's page, where you can check whether the sale closes within the 180 days. Dowell's 3rd Ward office is the place to ask what the affordable units will rent for and when ground breaks.