Moving forward on redeveloping Cabrini Green

The Chicago Housing Authority can move forward on redeveloping the remaining Cabrini Green land now that legal settlements have been approved by two federal court judges.  This welcome resolution creates enforceable minimum requirements for public housing in the thriving Near North community, and requires CHA to provide incentives to developers to go above the minimum.  BPI attorneys, representing the Gautreaux plaintiffs, the CHA and attorneys for the Cabrini Local Advisory Council negotiated the settlements.

CHA’s Cabrini redevelopment effort began in the early 1990’s.  All of Cabrini’s high-rise buildings have since been demolished.

While some redevelopment has occurred, and dozens of public housing units have been acquired in new private development in the surrounding community, the combination of a series of lawsuits brought by public housing residents and the economic downturn significantly delayed its progress.  Now, hopefully, the legal wrangling is over, the real estate market is improving and the CHA can finish the job it started over 20 years ago.

CHA’s Development Zone Plan, created with the participation of the Near North Working Group (of which BPI is a member), provides the foundation for a mixed use, mixed income community that will include over 1,600 units of public housing, additional affordable and non-subsidized housing, retail and commercial development, increased park space and improved traffic circulation.

The complex legal settlement, involving three separate lawsuits, provides significant benefits for current and former Cabrini public housing residents.  Some of the key provisions in two court orders that were entered in the Gautreaux case include:

•    CHA must develop at least 930 additional public housing units in the Cabrini neighborhood, beyond the 697 already developed as Cabrini replacement housing.  In a somewhat larger area, including the Cabrini neighborhood, CHA has committed to providing at least 1800 subsidized units by 2022.

•    CHA must require that at least 33% of the housing units provided by developers be public housing, and must provide incentives for developers to provide up to 40% public housing.  In many CHA redevelopment efforts 33% is the ceiling, not the floor, on public housing

production.  Because the Cabrini neighborhood is such a vibrant, amenity-rich area, BPI attorneys negotiated for a higher proportion of public housing to be included.

•    Public housing must be built and marketed at the same time as the non-public housing.

•    The 440 vacant Cabrini Rowhouses, which were the focus of the most recent lawsuit, will become a mixed income community with at least 40% public housing and 15% affordable housing.

•    The residents of the 146 previously rehabbed Cabrini Rowhouses, all of which will remain 100% public housing for the foreseeable future, will continue to be represented by the Cabrini Local Advisory Council.

•    Current and former Cabrini residents have first priority for the new housing.

The next step in the process, now that the legal issues have been resolved, is the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of sites with in the first phase of development, as identified in the Development Zone Plan. The Near North Working Group is participating in the drafting of the RFP and will make recommendations to the CHA on which proposals to select.