News

By Sara Badilini, Block Club Chicago | November 8th, 2021  (Click Here for Original Article)

BRONZEVILLE — Sythera Pride-Paulus and her family moved to Bronzeville in 2018 — but “it feels like we’d lived here forever,” she said.

The family — Sythera and her husband, J.P. Paulus; and their daughters, Mia and Faith Paulus — felt so welcomed in the neighborhood they immediately decided to buy a vacant lot adjacent to their home and transform it into a community garden. It took longer than expected due to some pandemic delays, but the major part of the work finished up in October, J.P. Paulus said.

Along the way, they’ve gotten inspiration and help from their neighbors.

The Paulus family bought the lot through the Cook County Land Bank Authority, an agency born in 2013 in response to the large amount of vacant lots around the city following the housing crisis. The land bank makes it easier for people to buy the properties by “clearing the tax, clearing the title,” said county Commissioner Bridget Gainer.

The land bank now has more than 550 small developers — most of them Black or Latino — who bought properties to create community gardens, residential units and other projects, Gainer said.

“Most of all, we realized that there was a huge number of people that were interested in redeveloping communities,” she said.  

The Pride-Paulus family is among them.

“We moved to the neighborhood and immediately walked to [the land bank] to put down the application with the design for the garden extension,” Pride-Paulus said.  

Their community garden, which will open in the spring at 440 E. 46th St., is an extension of a larger community garden that was built in 2011 across the street. That bigger garden was also built in a vacant lot; besides being a space for growing tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage, it has hosted several community events.

Arnold McBlackwell and his brother, Emile McBlackwell, take care of the larger garden full time, but they are supported by a block club of around 20 people. They have concerts, barbecues, movie nights, yoga classes and Juneteenth celebrations.

Everyone in the community can come and pick whatever they want, and “the only rule is to always leave something to someone else,” said Arnold McBlackwell.

The garden also gives neighborhood children a chance to learn how to grow plants, he said.

“My granddaughter always says that watching the plants grow gives you the confidence in your own growth,” Arnold McBlackwell said.

It was that garden’s work that inspired the Pride-Paulus family.

“The community garden was our true inspiration,” J.P. Paulus said. “We wanted to share healthy fruit and vegetables with our neighbors and share a sense of community with everyone.”

The neighbors from the bigger garden are helping the Pride-Paulus family learn lawn maintenance and gardening.

“None of us has any previous knowledge about gardening,” Pride-Paulus said. “But everyone is helping and supporting us.”

In the spring, the family will start planting. They’ve received several requests from their neighbors: cilantro, cauliflowers, broccoli, carrots. And strawberries — for their daughters, Paulus said.

The local Girls Scouts already reached out, and they’ll help during the planting process, Pride-Paulus said.

“A garden is a sign of new life, and it gives people new ideas,” Gainer said. People can see that it’s an option, “and they also see that it’s not it doesn’t require the city, or a foundation, or somebody from the outside. It’s only done with the people in the neighborhood.”

City Club of Chicago | April 6th, 2022 (Click Here for Original Article)

After progressing in a series of leadership roles in City government, Eleanor Esser Gorski was appointed Executive Director of the Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) in August 2021. Gorski brings more than 25 years of planning, design and economic development experience to the CCLBA as it embarks on plans to expand its inventory to create more affordable housing and economic opportunity partnerships within Cook County. The Cook County Land Bank works to efficiently return vacant properties to productive use in underserved communities throughout the county by partnering with community developers, small business owners and prospective homebuyers. It is the largest land bank by geography in the country, with a current inventory of more than 1,700 properties.

Before leading the CCLBA, Gorski served as Director of Design and Planning for the University of Illinois at Chicago. From 2019 to 2020, Gorski led the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) as First Deputy Commissioner and Acting Commissioner. Prior to this role, Gorski led the Bureau of Planning and Design for DPD, leading work on the City’s Industrial Corridor Modernization Initiative and the Fulton Market Innovation District Plan, creating the fastest-growing commercial sector in the city. Gorski has held many other leadership roles within the City, including director of the Landmarks Commission for five years. Projects she has managed include the five-year renovation of Wrigley Field, the planning for the Obama Presidential Center, the renovation of most of the early skyscrapers in the Loop as well as the preservation of the Carson Pirie Scott State Street store (now Target).

A hallmark of Gorski’s work is the way it centers equity and community, integrating design, planning and historic preservation. Notable projects include the creation of a community review process for the Chicago Plan Commission and numerous design guidelines for city landmark districts and neighborhoods. Her work in financial incentive legislation provided groundbreaking assistance for small businesses in communities of need through the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and helped to preserve landmarks with the Class L tax incentive.

Gorski is a licensed architect with degrees in architecture, art history and history. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Rome, where she studied the integration of new construction and old in Rome, Berlin and Amsterdam. She is also a fellow of the University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy. Gorski sits on the Local Advisory Board of LISC Chicago, the alumni board of the University of Illinois School of Architecture and the Board of the Illinois Medical District. Most important, she is a proud mom to two teenage boys and lives in the City of Chicago.

North Lawndale News  |  April 15th, 2021   (Click here for Original Article)

Declaring it time to put an end to a system that perpetuates redlining and the growth of vacant properties, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced she is joining the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer in calling for reform of the Cook County Scavenger Sale, a limit on interest rates charged to homeowners under a county lien, and a new strategic plan to recover and revitalize blighted communities.  Preckwinkle joined other city and suburban leaders to support the systemic reforms proposed in the “Homeowner Relief and Community Recovery Act.”  The bill will empower communities and local governments to transform vacant properties into homes and put them back on the tax rolls while helping residents stay in their homes by reducing predatory interest rates.

They announced their support for the proposal at the ribbon cutting for a newly renovated, multi-unit apartment building that had languished vacant for 15 years, harboring illegal activity and dragging down surrounding property values in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The Land Bank and a local developer transformed 6429 S. Stewart Ave. into 42 units of affordable housing. The HRCR Act attacks the cycle of abandonment and disinvestment in key ways. It changes tax penalties from a predatory rate, making it easier for homeowners to pay delinquent tax bills; and it helps municipalities save abandoned properties more quickly, stopping the cycle of vacancy, blight, crime and disinvestment as exemplified by the Stewart building.

By Pascal Sabino, Block Club Chicago  |  April 7th, 2021   (Click here for Original Article)

GARFIELD PARK — The owners of a West Side clothing brand were thrilled to finally open a brick-and-mortar store in 2018 after five years in business.

But the brand has faced challenges since then: The entrepreneurs’ dreams were nearly crushed when their landlord’s unpaid property taxes almost forced them to close. In a last-minute twist, the brand ended up being able to buy the property and keep their business. Now, they’re looking forward to many more years on the West Side.

The flagship Fort Maner shop opened in 2018 at 2819 W. Harrison St., just two blocks from where cofounder Tyshaun Hunter was raised. Hunter and his business partner, Aiyana Kendall, poured themselves into rehabbing the formerly vacant building they were renting, installing a new floor, replacing the roof, getting a new furnace and fixing up the walls.

“It wasn’t easy. But I wanted to make it like home. I didn’t want to open up a store in a messed-up place,” Hunter said.

But after all that work, they almost lost the business altogether in 2019. Their landlord was three years behind on property taxes and a new owner was primed to take over the building, which meant Hunter and Kendall could have been evicted or seen their rent skyrocket.

“We offered to buy the property from the landlord since he was going to lose it. But he acted like nothing was wrong,” Kendall said. “We were frightened. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

“I was furious,” Hunter said. “I finally got a business in the neighborhood where I live, helping people get jobs in the community. And in the blink of an eye, it was going to be taken from me.”

By coincidence, another effort to buy the building helped save Hunter and Kendall’s business.

Cook County records show property taxes on the building weren’t paid in 2019 or 2020, racking up $22,480.50 in taxes and interest. Taxes also are marked “delinquent” for 2018.

The Cook County Land Bank Authority, a government organization that seeks out vacant land to put it back into use, had begun the process of buying up the back taxes and acquiring the property at a 2017 scavenger sale.

A scavenger sale is the county’s last resort to collect taxes that haven’t been paid in at least three years. When a buyer purchases the taxes on a property, the original property owner has a redemption period to pay the back taxes. If they don’t pay, the entity buying up the taxes can get a tax deed from the courts, which makes them the new owner of the property.

“What normally happens, if we don’t buy it, then the next tax buyer will acquire the store and put [tenants] out,” said Elisha Sanders, an acquisition specialist for the Land Bank.

When Sanders purchased the taxes for the Land Bank at the scavenger sale in 2017, the property was vacant. A year into the process of acquiring the land, Sanders learned Hunter and Kendall had rented and overhauled the space.

“In our initial inspection, the property was vacant. Further down the line … it’s operating as a full store, fully rehabbed,” Sanders said.

It’s not uncommon for landowners who are behind on their property taxes to keep tenants “in the dark until the sheriff shows up” to evict them, Sanders said.

“You see a lot of local businesses in this situation. They don’t know until it’s too late,” she said.

The Cook County Land Bank Authority typically only buys “vacant and distressed” properties so they can be used by neighborhood organizations and residents for purposes that benefit the community. Since they had unwittingly acquired a building that was already in use, Sanders reached out to Kendall and Hunter to ask if they would want to buy the building themselves.

“That was just the best news ever. We told them, yeah, absolutely,” Kendall said.

The scavenger sale process is a long one, Sanders said. The original owner has 30 months to pay their back taxes before the property is turned over in a complex legal process. The Land Bank makes it easier for residents, organizations and businesses like Fort Maner to acquire a property “without all the red tape,” Sanders said.

Now, almost two years after Sanders reached out to the small business owners, Hunter and Kendall have finally closed on the property. Hunter said he takes tremendous pride in not only running a business in his own community, but also owning the land his business is built on.

Owning the property gives Fort Maner much more stability, and the owners won’t have to worry about rising rents or issues with a landlord. It also gives the entrepreneurs more opportunity to build out the store since they’ll be investing in their own building, rather than one that belongs to somebody else, Hunter said.

“I can do what I want. I can make my place bigger. I can hire more people from the community,” Hunter said. “It means the world to me.”

CBS Chicago  |  April 10th, 2021   (Click here for video of the event)

CHICAGO — Declaring it time to put an end to a system that perpetuates redlining and the growth of vacant properties, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle today announced she is joining the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer in calling for reform of the Cook County Scavenger Sale, a limit on interest rates charged to homeowners under a county lien, and a new strategic plan to recover and revitalize blighted communities. 

“The county has a responsibility and should have the power to help communities with abandoned properties,” Preckwinkle said. “We can do this at scale and faster than the antiquated system that serves short term profits over sustainable community growth and affordable housing. We need a simple change in the law to allow us to harness the creativity from partnering with the city, local communities and local developers.”

Preckwinkle joined other city and suburban leaders to support the systemic reforms proposed in the “Homeowner Relief and Community Recovery Act.”  The bill will empower communities and local governments to transform vacant properties into homes and put them back on the tax rolls while helping residents stay in their homes by reducing predatory interest rates.

They announced their support for the proposal at the ribbon cutting for a newly renovated, multi-unit apartment building that had languished vacant for 15 years, harboring illegal activity and dragging down surrounding property values in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The Land Bank and a local developer transformed 6429 S. Stewart Ave. into 42 units of affordable housing.
“A recent University of Chicago study concluded the Scavenger Sale is failing at the goal of returning tax delinquent properties to the tax rolls,” Gainer said. “Today’s ribbon cutting shows the promise of reform to the system. The rehab of this building created jobs and economic opportunity for the city and county and will create affordable housing for Englewood. But it should not have taken 15 years and endless state-mandated bureaucracy. Neighborhoods need this legislative reform, and we look forward to working to achieve the Land Bank’s and President Preckwinkle’s vision for revitalizing communities at scale.”

Along with lobbying for passage of the reform bill, Preckwinkle announced the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, through its Community Recovery Initiative, will make rapid revitalization of blighted Cook County communities a top priority and work with the Land Bank and Yarbrough.  Future reforms could also consider a bill that would end the state requirement for a biennial sale and instead put it at the discretion of the Cook County Treasurer.

Across the state, residents have been hit hard by the pandemic. As residents struggle to keep up, State law is putting some residents at risk of losing their homes. But the Homeowner Relief and Community Recovery (HRCR) Act creates protections for homeowners and helps municipalities and affordable housing entities rescue abandoned properties and remove the blight that disproportionately impacts communities of color.

“The Stewart building is an example of how the cycle of disinvestment and blight hurts communities, but it also demonstrates the positive impact on neighborhoods when we reduce vacancy and redevelop properties to addresses community needs,” State Rep. Lakesia Collins said. “That’s why I am sponsoring the HRCR Act, with State Sen. Steve Stadelman. The HRCR Act will reduce the number of vacant and abandoned properties by making it easier to reclaim homes for homeowners, and it will give local governments the tools to salvage properties like the Stewart building.”

When homeowners in Illinois fall behind on property taxes, the penalties and interest – up to 18%, assessed every 6 months – can make it almost impossible for them to catch up on missed payments. Tax delinquency and escalating fines often drive vacancy and abandonment. Abandoned, tax delinquent properties like the Stewart building can take years to reclaim – even when all parties agree and no owner claims the property. These vacant buildings create blight and depress the tax base.

The HRCR Act attacks the cycle of abandonment and disinvestment in key ways. It changes tax penalties from a predatory rate, making it easier for homeowners to pay delinquent tax bills; and it helps municipalities save abandoned properties more quickly, stopping the cycle of vacancy, blight, crime and disinvestment as exemplified by the Stewart building.

“This legislation also allows municipalities and counties to partner with another government agency to manage properties that threaten public health, safety and welfare,” said Yarbrough. “As a committed leader of Maywood and the county clerk, I know how important that is.”

Cook County Land Bank Executive Director Rob Rose called for lawmakers to pass the HRCR bill.

“We are thrilled to work with WPD Management and the City of Chicago’s Troubled Buildings Initiative to turn the Stewart building into affordable homes,” Rose said. “And we hope that legislators will give homeowners a fighting chance to pay their tax bills and allow municipalities to transform more abandoned buildings into viable homes and businesses. Every vacant home was once someone’s treasure, and this legislation will revitalize more of our treasured neighborhoods, help homeowners and stabilize Illinois communities.”

About the Cook County Land Bank Authority

The Cook County Land Bank Authority, an independent agency of Cook County, was founded by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2013 to address residents and communities hit hard by the mortgage crisis. CCLBA gives local developers, community groups and potential homeowners the tools to transform their own communities from within.

The Land Bank acquires properties that have sat tax‐delinquent, abandoned and vacant for years and sells them at below‐market rates to qualified community‐based developers, who then rehab the properties. This approach not only keeps revenue and jobs in the community, but it also helps local developers grow their businesses. Learn more about the Cook County Land Bank Authority at http://www.cookcountylandbank.org or call 312-603-8015.