News

By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, WBEZ Chicago | October 4th, 2024 (Click Here For Original Article)

By Atavia Reed, Block Club Chicago | October 7th, 2024 (Click Here For Original Article)

AUBURN GRESHAM — When local developer Tytus Henry bought a home from the Cook County Land Bank Authority to remodel in 2021, he had one request. 

“I wanted it to be a challenging project,” Henry said. 

Standing outside the refurbished Auburn Gresham home Thursday morning, Henry dabbed sweat from his forehead with a small towel while peering up at his creation.

“And this was definitely what I asked for.” 

Local officials and leaders at the Cook County Land Bank Authority joined Henry Thursday to celebrate the completion of the single-family home at 8514 S. Peoria Ave. 

The four-bedroom, four-bath Victorian home is the 2,000th Cook County Land Bank Authority property to be redeveloped in the organization’s 10-year history. 

The Cook County Land Bank Authority bought the vacant property in 2019. The 4,500-square-foot home was built in 1890. 

Henry, owner of Lion Heart Construction, bought the home from the land bank in 2021 for $40,000, he said. He began working on the property at the end of 2022 after completing projects for other investors. 

What followed over the next two years was “blood, sweat, tears and a lot of sleepless nights,” Henry said. 

“Tytus worked to turn this abandoned, dilapidated home into a beautiful place that we stand in today,” said Jessica Caffrey, executive director of the Cook County Land Bank Authority.  “In the process, he created jobs, helped launch careers, created tax revenue and put a jewel right here on this block in Auburn Gresham.”

The house needed to be “built from the ground up,” Henry said. That meant adding new studs, electrical wiring, plumbing, HVAC units and flooring to the four-story home. Henry invested about $225,000 in the property, he said. 

Henry grew up with eight brothers and a father who was a carpenter, he said. His father taught him how to work in the trades to complete construction projects, and knowing those skills “cut down a big cost.”

Along the way, Henry had assistance from local youth in the YouthBuild and Bridge to Construction programs offered through Metropolitan Family Services. 

YouthBuild, an alternative education opportunity for people ages 18-24, and Bridge to Construction, a pre-apprenticeship program, help young people learn occupational skills so they can find well-paying jobs. 

At the Peoria Avenue home, Henry taught youth like 19-year-old Nehemiah Triplett and Keyshawn Shuford carpentry skills like house framing and plumbing and electrical work. Triplett and Shuford learned fence posting and how to pour concrete. 

“He made sure we understood what we were learning and took time to teach us,” Triplett said. “It’s not easy work to build a house, but I kept coming back because I knew it was also building my character and helping me build a career.” 

Triplett hopes to become a real estate agent. Working with Henry “gave me another outlet to help further what I want to do to become better,” Triplett said. 

When Henry finishes a project, “all someone has to do is come in, drop their keys and start living in the house without any headaches,” he said. He puts his “heart and soul” into the process.

Henry added a black-and-white color scheme to the Auburn Gresham home “because everyone is doing gray,” he said. The home features a full slab countertop, a butler’s kitchen and a wall-mounted electric fireplace.

Henry completed renovations on the home last month, he said. A new buyer is closing on the home Friday. 

Thursday’s 2000th home celebration coincided with the release of the Cook County Land Bank Authority’s 10-year Economic Impact Analysis. 

In the past decade, the Cook County Land Bank Authority has created over 1,400 jobs, generated more than $58.1 million in community wealth and added over $1.8 billion in economic impact throughout Cook County, according to the study. 

The homebuyer who bought the Peoria Avenue property will receive $20,000 in purchase assistance from the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Caffrey said. 

“The Lank Bank is the key to reversing some of the historic wrongs that have created such extreme inequities in our city and our county, including here in Auburn Gresham,” said county board President Toni Preckwinkle. “Because when we’re talking about home ownership, we’re really talking about safety and shelter, a place to nurture a family, a way to grow generational wealth that can be passed down to future generations.”

Construction on the Victorian home “was a monster, but it was well worth the journey,” Henry said. 

Meeting local young people who “listened, learned and asked a million questions all day and night” was one of the most fulfilling aspects of the project, Henry said. 

Tierra Montgomery, a Roseland native, was inspired by Henry to start a construction company, she said Thursday.

T&C Infinite Remodeling — named after her sons — launched last month. Montgomery is already completing renovations for a client in Morgan Park, she said.  

“It’s rare to be a woman who owns a construction company, and I want to mentor others the way I was mentored,” Montgomery said. “This is a career I truly love, and there’s no shortage of opportunities for someone like me who has a strong work ethic and big goals.”

Henry has three remodeling projects lined up for homes in Auburn Gresham and Englewood, he said. He hopes to launch a nonprofit called Raising Lions to continue mentoring youth in the construction industry. 

“I hope the future homeowner will feel proud that some young people worked on the house,” said Triplett. “Not only does this house look professional, but they can have a peace of mind knowing that we’re not on the streets. We have our own jobs lined up.”

By Trey Arline, Block Club Chicago | April 12th, 2023 (Click Here For Original Article)

WEST GARFIELD PARK — Elaine Bell-Quinn’s mother and father came to Chicago separately during the tail end of the Great Migration, looking for more opportunities.

The two met and married, raising their family — including Bell-Quinn — in West Garfield Park. But as Bell-Quinn grew up, the neighborhood struggled with disinvestment.

Now, Bell-Quinn’s helping to revitalize the neighborhood and reclaim her family’s legacy — starting with her family’s home block.

Earlier this month, the Cook County Land Bank Authority awarded Bell-Quinn the deed to the land at 4738 W. Monroe St., which is next to her family’s longtime home at 4742 W. Monroe St. The deed was free as part of a community wealth initiative to restore struggling neighborhoods and incentivize investment in them.

Bell-Quinn and her partner, Brian Quinn, plan to establish the Kitteh Soup Kitchen & Garden on the vacant plot to grow fresh produce for the neighborhood and beautify the area. It will also serve as a cat sanctuary for stray felines.

Bell-Quinn, who lives in Logan Square with her partner, said she saw a need to return to her childhood home and create a positive legacy.

The home, which has stood since the 1920s, has been set ablaze twice: once during the 1991 Chicago Bulls championship and again during 2020’s unrest, Bell-Quinn said. But Bell-Quinn’s project is reimagining the house and the land next door, turning it into a space that can feed neighbors.

The garden will be up and running by this July.

“There are still good people that live in these communities,” Bell-Quinn said. “We need to remember where we came from in order to know where we’re going. I’m just blessed, humbled and filled with so much gratitude.”

Bell-Quinn’s parents were both from Mississippi, but they didn’t meet until her mother moved to Chicago in 1960. Bell-Quinn, 50, was born, and her parents bought the Monroe Street home West Garfield Park with help from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, she said.

Bell-Quinn’s family was close: She remembers the way her dad taught her to make frozen pizza with the cardboard, and her mother shared her love of gardening.

Bell-Quinn left Chicago in 1990 to go to the University of Tulsa. Afterward, she lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and throughout the East Coast before returning to Chicago in 2000.

Bell-Quinn then worked as a stage actress and director throughout the United States — but she was always based in Chicago.

Bell-Quinn’s family had sold the Monroe Street home, but she and her partner bought it back in 2015 with big dreams of moving in.

Over the years, West Garfield Park had suffered from systemic neglect, Bell-Quinn said. There were vacant lots, a lack of food healthy food options and abandoned properties.

The couple began work to revive the family home. They’re doing a gut rehab: replacing the flooring, piping, stairs, doors, wiring and more.

As they’ve worked on the revival, they also set their sites on the property next door, they said.

The lot at 4738 W. Monroe St. had once held a two-flat that had been vacant for years, officials and Bell-Quinn said. It was set on fire during unrest in 2020 and demolished.

Bell-Quinn and Quinn learned they might be able to secure the deed to the land through an auction in 2021, they said.

The Land Bank hosts auctions for properties that are severely delinquent on taxes; eventually, the person who wins the auction can acquire the property through a complicated process. The idea is to restore the properties to the tax rolls and put blighted or vacant land and buildings into the hands of residents who can restore them.

The West Garfield Park land was given to Bell-Quinn through the group’s Holiday Sale initiative — which is providing her and 10 others with land for free.

“We’ve witnessed firsthand the impact when we empower community members and local developers to reclaim and resurrect abandoned parcels that depress home values and drain community wealth in Cook County’s Black and Brown neighborhoods,” Cook County Land Bank Authority officials said in a statement. “The sale is one step in the right direction toward putting these properties into the hands of residents and community organizations.”

Bell-Quinn had dreamt about owning the two plots when she was a little girl. Now, it’s reality — allowing her to strengthen her community rather than sever ties with it.

“I just want to be an inspiration as much as I can so that we can move in the right direction,” Bell-Quinn said. “It’s people that are the largest resource that’s missing from our community. It’s important that we are proud of who we are and where we come from.”

Though the area is struggling, Bell-Quinn’s happy memories from her youth give her hope, she said.

“We want to give people more than just blight,” she said.

Bell-Quinn has long prided herself on her love of nature; now, as an adult, she’s delved into sustainability work, making her own soap and other cleaning products while gardening, she said.

Bell-Quinn credits her green thumb to her family’s roots as sharecroppers who were experts at working the land in Mississippi. Her mother, who lives in North Lawndale, still gardens today at 81.

But converting the long-neglected land at the house in West Garfield Park into a thriving garden has been a large project, costing about $5,000 in seeds, fertilizer, tools and other needs, Bell-Quinn said.

But Bell-Quinn and Quinn plan to distribute the food they grow to neighbors throughout the area.

“It’s very lovely to go grocery shopping in your backyard,” Bell-Quinn said.

Sustainability for the garden is also important to Bell-Quinn, given the systemic pollution on the West Side. She hopes to have a net-zero environmental impact and wants to install solar panels.

“We’re not treating the Earth right, so I’m doing my duty as a human citizen to have a positive impact on my environment,” Bell-Quinn said. “What we do with our lives and how we treat things is not sustainable.”

Bell-Quinn and Quinn said the community is grateful for the garden, as West Garfield Park has become a food desert in recent years. They’ll grow raspberries, strawberries, onions, peppers, asparagus, thyme, elderberries, gooseberries, turnips, beets, collards, kale, tomatoes and corn, helping to nourish their neighbors with fresh produce.

The garden has also become home to 17 stray cats. It is designated as a cat colony by Cook County, and the couple is certified to train and assist others with animal spay and neuter work.

Bell-Quinn hopes their level of investment in the garden inspires others to invest in the communities’ health, she said.

“I can see the negligence and what the lack of care does to us,” Bell-Quinn said. “It’s in my roots to care for Mother Earth. I am just doing my due diligence as a human being to take care of whatever I’m doing to not have a negative impact on this Earth.”

By Michael Romain, Village Press | July 14th, 2022 (Click Here For Original Article)

The village of Bellwood is looking to build even more homes just as two of the most recent homes the village constructed are close to selling for $425,000 each. 

In an interview on July 14, Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey said purchases are currently pending on the two homes at 130 49th Ave. and 132 49th Ave. The homes were built on a lot just off St. Charles Road that used to be a gas station. 

According to Harvey’s count, Bellwood now has 25 of what Crain’s Chicago Business dubbed “village hall-built houses,” or homes that the village has been building on its own since 2016, as a way to improve its housing stock. 

In Bellwood, most homes are between 900 and 1,200 square feet. The two homes on 49th Avenue are each 2,150 square feet. 

Last month, the village board approved the purchase of another eight vacant residential lots in Bellwood through the Cook County Land Bank Authority, an agency that helps restore vacant land and abandoned properties. 

The lots are at 241 Bohland Ave., 411 48th Ave., 119 50th Ave., 610 S. 23rd Ave., 2402 St. Charles Rd., 2408 St. Charles Rd., 3403 Monroe St. and 3407 Monroe St.

Harvey said that because the lots are small, the homes that get built will be roughly 1,900 square feet — smaller than the two new homes built on 49th Avenue, but still larger than the typical Bellwood home. 

“The amenities on the inside of the future homes will be the same [as the ones on 49th Avenue],” Harvey said. 

According to Redfin, the two new homes in the process of being purchased feature granite countertops, a master bedroom with a soaking tub and stainless steel appliances, among other amenities. 

The mayor said the village hopes to start construction on the lots “as soon as possible,” adding that he recently learned that the price of lumber “is going down a little bit. We’re eying the price every day. We hope it decreases a bit more. We don’t want to pass on too much additional cost to the consumer.” 

The housing construction is part of Bellwood’s plan to attract more homeowners to the village, Harvey said. 

“We have to build,” the mayor said. “I’m trying to make Bellwood a true destination community where everybody and anybody wants to come and live. We want to keep people interested in coming to the community.” 

By Josh Niland, Archinect | February 11th, 2022 (Click Here For Original Article)

As part of the firm’s desire to fill the “middle market” of residential housing options with inspiring contemporary architecture, Chicago-based practice Future Firm has designed a new 1,300-square-foot residential project, called Hem House, that has provided the city with a sustainable model for building the bedrock of successful mixed-income communities. 

The design team worked with real estate developer Jacob Root to create the project with the hopes of diversifying the housing stock available to those interested in the area where new residential construction costs usually begin at $600,000. 

“While there’s a very vibrant art and culture scene in Chicago, there isn’t a lot of bespoke contemporary architecture, and what exists in residential is almost exclusively very high end — so we’re hoping to help change that narrative,” co-principal Ann Lui explained. “Because Chicago residential lots are all the same size, it’s easy for people to repeat plans and end up with a lot of underwhelming architecture. We’d like to be a trend in a different direction.” 

Located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, the array of brick townhouses and two-flats typify the neighborhood’s residential structures. Using a narrower footprint than that of its neighbors, the designers say they were able to create an “easily replicable model” apt for use in one of the city’s myriad vacant lots. 

“This unique use of the typical Chicago 25’ x 125’ residential lot allows Hem House to be experienced as though it is on a much larger site,” Future Firm’s co-principal Craig Reschke shared. “It also allows for large windows that let in natural light but also remain private from the street.”

The home is defined by dual-stacked volumes clad in black metal siding that is typically used as a roofing material to give it the “sharp” and “clean-looking” aesthetic associated with contemporary residential design. A central entrance is tucked into the side yard, opening into a combination mudroom and laundry station followed on the right side by an L-shape kitchen and the distribution of the living areas which have been positioned to maximize light and seclusion in unison with its vibrant white gypsum board interior.

The house was completed last summer and hit the market for $399,000. It later sold and, as Darlene Dugo of the Cook County Land Bank Authority tells it, now stands as a shining example of the ways in which flexible single-family units can reshape communities by recharging disused areas. 

“For too long, blight caused by decades of redlining and the 2008 housing crisis has depressed property values and economic investment in Black and Brown neighborhoods,” she said. “By reclaiming vacant lots and building affordable, beautiful community assets, Hem Development is demonstrating what is possible when we enable local architects and developers to resurrect abandoned space.”

By Stacey Sheridan, Forest Park Review | January 16th, 2022 (Click Here For Original Article)

Construction is underway on Garfield Street, where crews are building a new welcome center and front-facing adoption center for the Animal Care League (ACL) at 1003 and 1009 Garfield St. Crews broke ground last month, but the transformation of the two buildings is starting to materialize.

“The outline for the walls is up and you can really see what the two buildings are going to look like and the space that we’re going to have for animals,” said ACL Executive Director Kira Robson.

The work is the first phase of a wider four-part plan to expand the nonprofit animal shelter’s premises, which will ultimately allow ACL to take in more animals and increase its in-house care services.

“It is well overdue, and we are so excited,” Robson said of the planned expansion.

ACL spent over a decade trying to buy the run-down, abandoned building at 1009 Garfield St., which sits between three other shelter-owned structures. The shelter was finally able to acquire the property in the summer of 2019, with the help of the Cook County Land Bank Authority.

The first phase of the expansion plan focuses entirely on 1003 and 1009 Garfield St. Eventually each of ACL’s four buildings will be joined to create one large structure, but in the meantime, Robson is thrilled that ACL will finally have a lobby.

“We’re very excited about it because if you’ve ever been here, we don’t have that kind of a space right now,” she said.

The lobby will house the welcome center, as well as offices and a community room, where ACL plans to host birthday parties and seminars. The center is meant to be, as Robson described, “an engaging space for the community.”

Currently, ACL takes in about 1,200 animals each year. With the new adoption center, it will have the ability to house two to three times as many rabbits, cats and dogs and do so in a lower-stress environment. It will also allow for discrete adoption, as well as medical and intake spaces. The full adoption center includes dog suites as opposed to kennels, plus communal cat adoption rooms and suites for cats with feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia. Rabbits haven’t been left out either. The center will feature an expanded rabbit adoption area.

“It’s going to have a really serious impact, not only on the animals we serve, but our volunteers will have a better space to come and volunteer,” said Robson, who expects the first phase of the project to be finished in March or April of this year.

Upon completion, the plan is to move directly into the following phases, which focus on the expansion of ACL’s in-house medical capabilities and construction of training spaces for animals, as well as “real life rooms,” which Robson explained are designed to feel like a home environment to get the animal adjusted to that lifestyle.

How quickly ACL can move forward with phases 2-4 depends entirely on the community, according to Robson. Funding will be key in determining how quickly construction crews will be able to move from phase to phase. ACL plans to announce a capital fundraising campaign in the coming weeks.

“I truly hope that Oak Park is going to realize how important it is for us to have this kind of a facility, both for the animals and the community,” she said.