News Articles

 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 [...]

By Joe Donlon & WGN Investigates  |  December 3rd, 2018   (Click here for the original article) CHICAGO — Owning a home is considered part of the American dream, but for tens of thousands of people in the Chicago area it has become a nightmare. It’s not their home that’s the problem; it’s neighbors' abandoned houses that sit vacant and decaying for years, lowering the surrounding property values in the process. Called "Zombie Houses," they are often left empty while they're stuck in a legal limbo. WGN Investigates what’s being done to bring these properties back from the dead. In addition [...]

By Aaron Gettinger, Hyde Park Herald  |  September 26th, 2018   (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. The Land Bank, a government entity that acquires and sells financially distressed properties, usually tax delinquents at scavenger sales, is seeking requests for proposals on the 35,000-square-foot site, and will choose a buyer based on their plans for development. According to the Land Bank, the public expressed a desire for [...]

By Katherine Newman | September 26th, 2018  (Click here for the original article) The Cook County Land Bank Authority (the Land Bank) has issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) that calls for the renovation of the 94-year-old Washington Park National Bank Building located on the corner of 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. The Land Bank has set a number of guidelines and proposals are being accepted from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31 with a decision being made by Dec. 13. The once thriving 35,000-square-foot historical bank has been vacant for more than two decades and the Land Bank believes that [...]

By TJ Armour, N'Digo | August 20th, 2018 (Click here for the original article) Since its creation in 2013, the Cook County Land Bank Authorityhas worked hard to reverse the effects of the 2008 mortgage crisis by taking tax delinquent, vacant properties in south and west side neighborhoods and getting them back to a useful purpose. They've removed barriers that have existed for years in turning these properties around because they have the authority to quickly acquire them, eliminate all back taxes and fees associated with them and offer them to people in the community to purchase and rehab at below market [...]

By Corilyn Shropshire, Chicago Tribune | May 1st, 2018  (Click here for the original article) Continuing its quest to spruce up city and suburban neighborhoods, the Cook County Land Bank is putting 3,189 vacant lots up for sale. The lots will be made available at below-market rates to individuals, developers and organizations. The land bank is hoping those who buy the properties will redevelop them in ways that meet community needs, by creating amenities like public gardens, play lots and basketball courts. Most of the vacant lots are in areas hit hard by the 2008 foreclosure crisis and are delinquent on taxes. [...]

By Becky Vevea, WBEZ Chicago | May 1st, 2018  (Click here for the audio clip) More than 3,000 vacant, tax-delinquent properties across Cook County go up for sale Tuesday at below-market rates, as part of a government program to get blighted homes back on the tax rolls. It’s the latest move by the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which was formed in 2013 after the housing crash to deal with the tide of newly vacant and abandoned properties in Chicago and the suburbs. Officials there are hoping the addition of the 3,189 vacant lots to the land bank’s portfolio will further help break a [...]