After a four-year fight, a group of advocates and South Shore Ald. Desmon Yancy said they have reached an agreement with the city to create housing protections near the Obama Presidential Center.
Spurred by rising property values and rents in the neighborhood since the OPC was announced, organizers successfully passed a pilot program in the Woodlawn neighborhood to maintain affordable housing and give current renters the chance to buy homes that went up for sale. But a similar program just south of the presidential center site in Jackson Park has lagged.
On Thursday, after months of stop-and-start meetings with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration, advocates are rolling out a proposal in the City Council Housing Committee that they hope will pass before aldermen are mired in budget talks.
Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, speaks on property tax relief legislation on Jan. 29, 2025, at the County Building. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The ordinance creates a pilot program that would set aside 30 city-owned lots for affordable home ownership and new rental units. It would also create a $3 million property tax debt relief program, giving out grants of up to $5,000 for residents of South Shore, Englewood and the Lower West Side and expand a “fair notice” pilot currently active in Woodlawn, giving renters a longer heads up when their leases are not being renewed.
The pilot area spans from 60th St. on the north, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. to the west, South Chicago Ave. to the southwest, 71st St. to the South, and DuSable Lake Shore Dr. to the east.
That cuts out the 7th Ward, which was part of the original ordinance. Local Ald. Gregory Mitchell, 7th, did not back the ordinance. Other homeowners in the area, and the former alderman of the 5th Ward, argued the neighborhood already had affordable rental stock — including federally subsidized housing — and that longtime homeowners should instead be prioritized for protection to create a better balance of middle- and low-income residents.
An ordinance codifying the demands of organizers for a South Shore Community Benefits Agreement has been sitting in limbo in the Chicago City Council for nearly two years. Johnson voiced generally backed the protections, but only expressed support for expanding and extending a program linking people threatened with eviction with housing attorneys. Even that program has not had a hearing.
Originally Published: September 24, 2025 at 11:01 AM CDT