News Articles

By Pascal Sabino, Block Club Chicago  |  February 18th, 2021   (Click here for Original Article) AUSTIN — Neighborhood groups want to transform vacant lots on the West Side into community facilities that will provide housing, health and career services for children and families. The project is part of the ASPIRE Initiative, an effort to invest in local assets so Austin residents of all ages will have access to education and economic opportunities. The initiative, which aims to create a cradle-to-career pipeline in the area, implements several of the strategies outlined in the Austin Quality-of-Life Plan for achieving resident-driven improvements to the [...]

By Jamie Nesbitt Golden, Block Club Chicago  |  December 23rd, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) Englewood neighbors can get a first look at a new house this weekend, the product of a community initiative seeking to help more residents become homeowners. The virtual community reveal is 10:30 a.m.-noon Sunday. The red brick two-flat at 6219 S. Bishop Ave. is a two-year-long “buy the block” renovation project spearheaded by the Englewood Development Group, a collective formed by R.A.G.E. Founder Asiaha Butler and E.G. Woode’s Deon Lucas. Potential buyers would have to live in the home, which will go on the market for $199,000. In [...]

By Stacey Sheridan, The Wednesday Journal of Oak Park  |  October 5th, 2020   (Click here for Original Article) After over 10 arduous years of trying, the Animal Care League (ACL) has successfully purchased the dilapidated building at 1009 Garfield St., which sits directly between three other ACL-owned properties. Once renovated, the building will serve as an extension of the ACL's animal adoption and care services. "It'll be a part of our whole operation," said Chatka Ruggiero, longtime ACL board member, who was instrumental in the purchasing process. ACL will join the fourth building to the others by constructing a covered [...]

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 [...]