Monthly Archives: May 2015

By Michael Romain When, earlier this month, the Cook County Land Bank Authority identified 13 Chicago neighborhoods and 13 surrounding suburbs in which to aggressively purchase vacant single-family and multifamily properties — Austin was on the list. The selected areas all have a concentrated supply of what the Woodstock Institute — a Chicago-based research and financial advocacy organization — calls "zombie properties." Those are properties in which a foreclosure case "has been filed but not resolved for more than three years." "Because neither the borrower nor the servicer has clear control of the property, neither has a strong incentive to [...]

By Mary Ellen Podmolik Humboldt Park is in. So are East Garfield Park and Woodlawn in Chicago and suburbs like Maywood, Matteson and South Holland. The Cook County Land Bank Authority has identified 13 city neighborhoods and 13 west and south suburbs where it will aggressively buy vacant, abandoned single-family homes and small multifamily buildings and hold them, waiting for a buyer. But other Chicago neighborhoods hard hit by the nation's housing crisis are out. North and South Lawndale, Englewood and West Ridge are not going to get focused attention and investment from the land bank because there is "too [...]