News articles on CCLBA

By Leslie, The Chicago Crusader  |  August 5th, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) Until recently, the vacant lot at 75th Street and Stewart Avenue on Chicago’s South Side was full of weeds and trash, and it was marked by a history of violence. Now, with the help of the Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA), the same lot is being transformed into a school and community resource center by a group of neighbors who have been fighting to end violence. Since 2015, MASK (Mothers/ Men Against Senseless Killings) has occupied the corner of 75th and Stewart daily, grilling meals, [...]

By Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune  |  June 13th, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) To fight the generations-spanning, discriminatory housing practice known as redlining with nine homes in a pocket of the South Side might seem, at first, like David going up against Goliath. But Lamell McMorris has big plans for several lots in West Woodlawn, which he sees as one step toward building up the neighborhood where he grew up. McMorris, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate developer and civil rights activist, has formed a new property redevelopment firm meant to right the wrongs of redlining, in partnership with the [...]

Noticiero Bilingue Lawndale News  |  May 21st, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) Now that COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, Luis Castro and his wife Marsha, co-owners of L&MC Investments, are determined now more than ever to pursue their mission of creating affordable housing in communities like Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Berwyn and East Garfield Park. “This is the right time to create affordable housing for people,” said Luis Castro, president of L&MC investments, and a Humboldt Park resident. “With affordable housing, people might still be able to carry their mortgage and have a little bit left over.” L&MC [...]

The Chicago Citizen  |  May 20th, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) South Side developer thriving despite COVID-19, thanks to pipeline offered by Cook County Land Bank Authority The mortgage crisis of 2008 put real estate developer Keith Lindsey, founder and CEO of Solar Energy Construction, out of business for four years. But this time around, Lindsey’s business is thriving, in spite of the COVID-19 crisis. A general contractor for more than 20 years, Lindsey recently sold two single-family homes in Englewood since the pandemic hit Chicago, and he is now rehabbing a six-unit Englewood building that will be discounted [...]

ABC-TV News  |  August 11th, 2019   (Click here for Original Article) CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Cook County Land Bank Authority is giving away a free, newly rehabbed home in the Washington Heights neighborhood on Chicago's South Side this fall. The Land Bank opened its lottery registration Saturday, and it'll run through Sept. 15. The winner would be awarded a single family home with a mortgage that has already been paid in full. The new homeowner would only be responsible for paying property taxes, insurance and utility bills. The popular twin Downing Brothers of the HGTV pilot show "Double Down" helped [...]

By Manny Ramos, Chicago Sun-Times  |  September 7th, 2019   (Click here for Original Article) Elaine Lee was facing an extremely difficult time in 2007. Her husband had recently died. Her arthritis was getting worse. And then she lost her job. Like many homeowners in that year leading up to the Great Recession, she started falling behind on her mortgage. “I was forced to sell or lose everything,” Lee said. With the proceeds, “I was able to live on my own for a little more than a year.” But after that, money eventually dried up; she lived with her daughter or [...]

 By Erin Ivory, WGN-TV  |  August 28th, 2019   (Click here for Original Article) CHICAGO — The Cook County Land Bank Authority is giving away a mortgage-free next month, with an assist from a pair of local celebrities. One lucky Chicagoan will receive the keys to the Washington Heights home rehabbed by brothers Anton and Anthony Downing of HGTV's "Double Down." It was a perfect pairing for the job, taking place in the same neighborhood where they grew up. "It means everything to us to get to make a difference in these neighborhoods across the South and West Side," Anthony [...]

By Dennis Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business  |  July 8th, 2019   (Click here for the original article) A pair of charismatic house-rehabbing twins who have a television show in the works at HGTV are teaming up with the Cook County Land Bank to makeover a house in the city and give it away. Anton and Anthony Downing, who grew up in the West Chesterfield neighborhood and have been rehabbing homes for a decade, this spring signed a contract to create an HGTV show called “Double Down.” Production hasn’t yet begun, Anthony Downing said. They specialize in instilling stylish new looks into worn-out [...]

By Odette Yousef, WBEZ Chicago  |  July 11th, 2019   (Click here for the original article) George Porter wistfully remembers the Saturday morning smell of bacon and eggs wafting out of homes on the 6500 block of South Sangamon Street, where he grew up. Neighbors would be outside cutting their grass and sitting on their front porches. “I ... could walk down this street, and about six, seven elders would be like, ‘Son, you hungry?’” Porter said. “‘Here, here you go. Some Kool-Aid? You want pop? Take these bottles to the store and cash them in.’” Porter, now 50 and no [...]

By Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board  |  April 4th, 2019   (Click here for the original article) The Cook County Land Bank is selling the Washington Park National Bank Building in Woodlawn, 6300 S. Cottage Grove Ave., after conducting public listening meetings to see what the community wants from the space. Whenever possible, older buildings that showcase Chicago’s architectural legacy should be spared from the wrecking ball. Every Prairie Style home and post-modern office building, every brick bungalow and greystone two-flat has value as part of the visual past and present of Chicago. Though preserving a building that has seen better days [...]