New Housing Near Garfield Park In The Home Stretch

By Abby Miller, Chicago Sun-Times | May 1st, 2026 (Click Here For Original Article)

Will Johnson has lived near Garfield Park for about 40 years. So when he saw developers building new homes on his block, he was hesitant to embrace the change.

But now that the homes are materializing, Johnson — who says he’s seen the neighborhood rise and fall over the years — is feeling more optimistic. So are his neighbors.

“When people are set in their ways, it’s hard to do new stuff,” he said. “But now that it’s kicking in gear, people are like, ‘Oh, wow, [it doesn’t] look bad.’”

Johnson has noticed less crime and blight on his block as developer Luis Castro builds two- and three-flats in the 500 block of North Lawndale Avenue. He and other neighbors, in addition to Castro and local leaders, joined the Cook County Land Bank Authority Tuesday to cut the ribbon on Castro’s fourth home on the block. It’s also the 2,500th completed home acquired through the land bank.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the land bank’s latest milestone is important. The authority was established to address some of Cook County’s most pressing issues, including vacancy, tax delinquency and disinvestment.

“When we unlock land, we unlock the possibility for homeowners, for developers, for families and for entire neighborhoods,” she said.

The two-flat replaces a vacant lot and features a garden-level two-bedroom unit and a three-bedroom duplex on the first and second floors, according to the land bank. It’s the first new two-flat on the block and is unsold, though sales for nearby three-flats have been “on fire right now,” Castro said.

“I think we’re back at a point where we need the multiunits in order to establish these first homeownerships so that they’re not jumping into such a sticker shock with the mortgage payments,” Castro, who owns USA Roofing Supply, said. “It’s a perfect buy for a first-time homebuyer.”

Castro has been building homes since 2008. He said buying from the land bank has helped increase the number of homes he builds annually and reduce costs, which helps amid recent spikes in the cost of construction materials and labor. The land bank acquires tax delinquent and abandoned properties and wipes their slates of taxes and liens before selling them to developers — often at a cheaper price.

Nearly all of Castro’s homes are built on land from the authority, he said. He said he thinks the process spurs more development in the private market.

“What we’re doing is we’re creating the urgency of seeing a block being built,” Castro said.

He has two more buildings under construction, for a total of six properties on North Lawndale Avenue. Only one is a two-flat, while the other properties are three-flats. Once complete, Castro will have added a total of 17 units. Eleven units are finished. Past units have sold for $719,000 to $749,000, with the land bank providing $20,000 in financial assistance to three of the buyers.

The land bank said the six buildings are expected to create up to $3.5 million in community wealth on the block. It calculates community wealth by subtracting the value of vacant land from the purchase price of the new home.

Since its founding in 2013, the land bank has created $300 million in community wealth. But it hasn’t been without troubles, including a 2020 audit that found land bank officials hadn’t documented what they’ve done to avoid conflicts of interest on land deals involving the county agency. In 2023, a former asset manager for the land bank was sentenced to a year in prison for using straw buyers to buy and resell properties from the land bank on his behalf.

The land bank’s executive director, Jessica Caffrey, said Castro is the perfect example of the authority working as it’s supposed to: helping developers scale up their business to create new community investment.

Caffrey said the land bank is strengthening its operations, including collaboration with the city of Chicago to acquire more lots and continue its mission. To date, the land bank has generated more than $1.8 billion in economic impact.

Johnson’s wish is that more new homes translates to more resources for the community.

“Hopefully, it makes the community better,” he said. “Now we just got to hope that whoever’s got their foot on the gas, keeps it on the gas.”