City planners snub proposal for ‘supportive housing’
Logan Square pastors and civic leaders are calling on Alderman Rey Colón (35th) and Mayor Richard M. Daley to reverse a decision by the city’s planning department that neighborhood leaders say would undercut the Mayor’s ‘Plan to End Homelessness.’
The Department of Planning and Development intends to reject a proposal by two non-profit groups to turn a vacant office building at 2800 N. Milwaukee into the community’s first ‘supportive housing’ development. Instead, the department favors a plan for artists’ studios in the six-story building.
“We just can’t believe this. It’s heart-breaking,” said Lissette Castañeda, a leader at St. Sylvester Catholic Church and the 1st Vice President of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). “If the City misses this opportunity, they will be squandering years of planning, a broad base of community support and a terrific location.”
Supportive housing combines private apartments with on-site social services to help its residents—some of whom are working their way out of homelessness—to successfully transition to permanent housing. Under the Logan Square proposal, the long-vacant Morris B. Sachs Building would be renovated to provide 47 apartments for individuals and families. The proposal by Heartland Housing and locally-based Humboldt Park Social Services also includes services and meeting space for the surrounding Logan Square and Avondale neighborhoods and retail storefronts on the ground floor.
Castañeda said the Sachs proposal is just the kind of project Chicago needs if Mayor
Daley’s ambitious “Plan to End Homelessness” is to succeed. She and other community leaders are appealing to Alderman Rey Colón (35th) and Mayor Daley to reverse the decision, which requires approval by the Community Development Commission and the City Council.
Logan Square leaders identified supportive housing as a top priority in a 2005 community plan, noting that many lower-income families were being displaced from the neighborhood by soaring rents and condo conversions. The planning effort was led by LSNA, a 46-year-old coalition of churches, schools, block clubs and non-profit agencies.
In the fall of 2005, LSNA identified another Milwaukee Ave. building as a potential site for supportive housing, but city officials pointed them to the Sachs Building as a better alternative.
The City purchased the Sachs Building in early 2007, after ongoing discussions with community leaders and housing advocates. Later that year, the Department of Planning & Development issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to preserve and reuse the structure, a city landmark at the busy intersection of Milwaukee, Kimball and Diversey avenues. Two proposals were submitted by the November deadline: the supportive housing plan, with its long history of grass-roots support, and a proposal for artists housing, which emerged only after the RFP was issued.
Logan Square leaders who met with Colón last week were dumbfounded to hear him say that he had not read either proposal. Colón told them he left the decision-making up to planning department officials. “We all know that Aldermen have the power to determine what happens in their wards,” said the Reverend Bruce Ray, pastor of Kimball Avenue Evangelical Church. “The planning department depends on the Aldermen to know what each community needs. Alderman Colón has regularly voiced his support for housing for the homeless in his ward, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to take action. He still has time to do the right thing."
Colón also told residents that the supportive housing proposal would cost more. But Ray noted the plan would provide 47 units of housing, while the artists’ residence would provide just 27 live-work units. Ray said LSNA would be glad to work with arts organizations and developers to find another site for the artists’ housing project. It would be far more difficult to find a new site for supportive housing, he said.
“There are very few large buildings like the Sachs Building in Logan Square or Avondale,” explained Reverend Sandra Castillo, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Advent and its sister church, Iglesia Episcopal Nuestra Señora de las Americas. “This one is ideal. Residents would have great access to public transit and job opportunities in the businesses along Milwaukee Avenue. The second floor has space for service offices and community meetings. The first floor has room for storefronts that will generate rental income and strengthen our commercial district.”
“And this building is vacant, so it’s a ‘win’ for everyone – stable housing for people working their way out of homelessness, a landmark building brought back to life, and a hub for important social services and community meetings.”