The Chicago Board of Education approved the sale of two closed school buildings Thursday,” allowing the long-vacant lots to be repurposed into affordable housing and an athletic facility.
The sales of the former Louis Daniel Armstrong Elementary in Austin and Ignace Paderewski Elementary in Little Village will net the district $155,500. Both properties have been shuttered since the city’s mass closures in 2013. The board voted unanimously in favor of the sales at its January meeting.
In the 12 years since the closures, Chicago Public Schools has repeatedly made efforts to offload its vacant sites — which continue to rack up millions in annual maintenance costs. A total of 20 buildings were put out to bid in May, and the first three buyers were approved in December.
Even after approval, it will likely be years before redevelopment is complete. Neither property has working plumbing, electric or mechanical systems. They also have severe water damage.
BreakAway Community Development was approved for a $100,000 bid on Armstrong. Developer Khalilah Johnson said the property will be repurposed as an athletic training facility, with a focus on affordable access for young athletes in Austin. The property’s annex will be repurposed as rental suites for athletic trainers.
The former Armstrong Elementary School, 5345 West Congress Parkway, Jan. 29, 2026, which has been vacant since the 2013. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
“There’s just a need for something like this for kids in the community,” Johnson told the Tribune this week. “We’re hoping it becomes a sports hub.”
The planned facility will have two full-size basketball courts, an indoor turf field and a fitness studio. BreakAway is still seeking $10 million in donations to fund the $12.5 million project, which the nonprofit plans to complete within 18 to 24 months, according to Johnson.
“It’s really just a blank slate of a building, ”Johnson said.
The board also approved a $55,500 bid for Paderewski from developer P3 Markets. The building will be demolished to make way for an 86-unit affordable housing development, according to board documents.
Addressing the board earlier this month, CPS Director of Real Estate Stephen Stults called the lots an “ongoing liability.” They cost $75,000 to $150,000 per year to maintain, depending on the site size, and are repeatedly broken into and vandalized.
“We don’t want to be the landlord of vacant buildings, so we’re doing everything we can,” Stults told the board.
After the school board’s vote, the bids must receive final approval from the City Council or the Public Buildings Commission.
Bids for three other properties were approved by the school board last month: the former John G. Shedd Elementary School in Roseland; Arna Bontemps Elementary School in Englewood; and Henson Elementary School in North Lawndale. A nonprofit plans to repurpose Shedd as a community center, while the other two sites are planned for affordable housing.
Planters are untended at the former Henson Elementary School at 1326 S. Avers Ave. in Chicago on Dec. 18, 2025. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The district’s last large-scale push to sell the closed schools was in 2017. More than two dozen remain vacant, though some have been sold but are still pending redevelopment.
Some buyers have also backed out of sales. For example, nonprofit MR Properties offered $50,000 for Paderewski in 2018, but the renovation would have been too costly for the affordable housing developer.
“We just couldn’t make the numbers work,” developer Philip Mappa told the Tribune last month. “The windows have to be replaced, the roof has to be replaced. … We would have been off starting for scratch.”
Now Paderewski has another shot at redevelopment.