The city's community development commission this week authorized the department of planning and development to begin efforts to acquire 22 properties that are believed to be owned by private parties. Property records reveal one 2003 sale at $62,000, but some units have changed hands for as little as $1,000, and city officials note 16 already have been reclaimed by HUD through foreclosure. The city's department of housing is arranging to buy those units from HUD.
"I wouldn't say it's a white elephant," says 16th Ward Alderman Shirley Coleman. "It's worse than that."
Twenty units are vacant, according to the city's department of planning and development, although the units are used by squatters, street gang members and drug dealers. However, the units also are in frequent need of emergency repairs, and the quality of construction is dubious. "We can't even find permits," Coleman says.
Meanwhile, the townhouse development is two blocks north of the relocated Kennedy-King City College being built at a cost of $192 million and the city is looking for a developer willing to build a grocery-anchored retail center at the northwest corner of 63rd and Halsted streets. In the other direction, the townhouses are two blocks south of 59th Street, where the city is hoping to lure mixed-use developers to 15 parcels.
Although the city owns common areas, deed restrictions require the project remain residential, according to the department of planning and development.
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