“A plan to redevelop a vacant section of the Lathrop Homes public housing development along the Chicago River is getting a funding boost.

“The City Council last week approved the expansion of the Diversey/Chicago River tax increment financing district, which will direct funds to help retrofit — and in some cases, demolish — buildings in the complex to construct more than 300 new housing units.

“Since 2019, the CHA and its development partners have added almost 500 housing units in the section of Lathrop north of Diversey Avenue. But south of Diversey, many of the existing buildings have sat vacant and decaying, despite the CHA having received federal funds to operate and maintain them, Block Club reported last year. Neighbors have also lodged complaints about crime in the area.

“Seven existing buildings will be rehabbed, while three will be demolished.

“Phase 1C will also include a new five-story building, plus the conversion of a former powerhouse building at the southern end of the site into a commercial property, according to Ald. Scott Waguespack’s (32nd) weekly newsletter. The total project is slated to cost just over $200 million.

“‘This upcoming project presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously provide more CHA and affordable units in the 32nd Ward. This supply of housing is being done in a way that is harmonious with the context and character of the surrounding neighborhood,’ Waguespack wrote. ‘I look forward to working with both existing and new neighborhood residents to ensure that the next phase of Lathrop continues the success of the prior phase.’

“The Lathrop Homes sit along the North Branch of the Chicago River, just west of the intersection of Diversey and Damen avenues. The complex was built in 1938 as one of the city’s first federally funded public housing projects with the goal of providing housing to working-class and low-income families.

“In 2006, the CHA announced plans to demolish Lathrop Homes. But after years of community pushback, the agency instead moved forward with a redevelopment plan, and in 2010 selected developers Related Midwest and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. to turn the complex into a mixed-income rental community.” (Myers, Block Club Chicago, 1/22/25)

“For more than two decades, the Chicago Housing Authority has pledged to rehab and rebuild hundreds of apartments at the Lathrop Homes site in west Lakeview.

“But even as the city’s affordable housing crisis has grown worse, the CHA’s efforts at Lathrop have been halting, leaving neighbors wondering why scores of apartments are still sitting empty and decaying. The half of Lathrop south of Diversey Parkway remains a ghost town, its vacant buildings marked with graffiti, the windows boarded up after being smashed in by trespassers

“‘Over the years, people were told to move, and the vacant buildings just weren’t kept up, graffiti everywhere,’ said neighbor Charles Hogren, who lives north of Diversey. (Murphy, Block Club Chicago, 3/25/24)

Lathrop Homes has three times been a Preservation Chicago 7 Most Endangered, first in 2007, and again in 2013 and 2022. We played an important leadership role in the success of the Lathrop North and have been actively advocating for the redevelopment of Lathrop South.

The Lathrop Homes were one of the first and one of the best public housing developments built in Chicago, resulting in a remarkably stable racially-mixed community for generations. Completed in 1938, the 35-acre park-like site is located along the Chicago River, with its graceful combination of mature landscaping and low-rise and gently ornamented buildings, create an intimate and human-scale atmosphere.

After decades of preservation advocacy, the Julia C. Lathrop Homes North celebrated its grand reopening in September 2018. The final redevelopment plan included both historic preservation and new construction, but with a significantly higher percentage of preservation than initially proposed. The original proposed percentage of historic preservation was a tiny fraction of the historic structures, but the final percentage of historic preservation is approximately 75%.

Since that time, Lathrop Homes South languished and suffered from extreme neglect and deferred maintenance. Preservation Chicago has consistently encouraged decision makers and stakeholder to prioritize renovation of the South Phase of Lathrop Homes. We’re thrilled that the second phase is finally moving forward.

The highly preservation-sensitive outcome of the North Phase is due to a multi-year preservation advocacy campaign by Preservation Chicago, our preservation partners including Landmarks Illinois, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and neighborhood groups such as Logan Square Preservation, Lathrop Homes Advisory Council and Logan Square Neighborhood Association. We applaud the development team for recognizing the history of Lathrop and reshaping their development plans to celebrate and restore much of the site’s architectural assets.

Read the full story at Block Club Chicago

• Lathrop Homes Redevelopment Gets TIF Boost From City Council; The additional tax increment financing money will help build more than 300 housing units in the development’s southern section, according to the Mayor’s Office and local alderman, Quinn Myers, Block Club Chicago, 1/22/25
• Additional Funding Approved For Next Phase Of Lathrop Homes Redevelopment, Ian Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 11/13/24
• CHA Approves Plan To Jump Start Stalled Redevelopment At Long-Empty Lathrop Apartments; The Chicago Housing Authority has pledged to rebuild hundreds of homes at the Lathrop site for more than two decades. A board member says the CHA must move faster: ‘Things have to change.’, Alexandra Murphy, Block Club Chicago, 3/25/24
• Long-vacant Chicago housing complex attracts crime, graffiti, neighbors say, Lauren Victory, CBS 2 Chicago, 3/18/24
• CHA Approves Funding For Next Phase Of Lathrop Homes Redevelopment, Ian Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 3/28/24
• Lathrop Homes South Campus Public Housing Sites – A Chicago 7 Most Endangered 2022