CHA announced plans to redevelop the riverside Lathrop Homes property

The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) approved plans to redevelop the Lathrop Homes site in Hamlin Park as part of the CHA Plan for Transformation.

Lathrop Homes rests at the intersection of Diversey and Damen Avenue, near the Chicago River, with 925 units spread throughout 30 buildings.

Permission to redevelop the property was given to a partnership of five developers: Related Midwest, Magellan Development Group, Ardmore Associates, Heartland Housing and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp.

The five developers were chosen for their collective proficiency in sustainable development, affordable housing development, job creation, residential property management, and revitalization of historic properties, amongst other fields of expertise in developing mixed-income communities.

President of Related Midwest, Curt Bailey, said, “We’re very excited about the opportunity and look forward to working with our partners on this.”

The CHA intends to demolish the complex and replace it with 1,200 mixed-income units. However, Related Midwest has said that the number of units could change greatly depending on how the final plans for redevelopment are designed.

A coalition of tenant groups, preservationists, and neighborhood activists want a, “commitment to preserve Lathrop as 100 percent affordable,” says John McDermott, executive of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.

An outline of CHA goals for redevelopment include LEED platinum certification and maintaining the affordability of Lathrop Homes, with a third of the units being planned to serve as public housing subsidy units.

Lathrop Homes is one of many developments in the 11 year-old Plan for Transformation. It [the Plan] is the most extensive redevelopment effort in public housing within the United States, with the goal of rehabilitating or redeveloping the entire stock of public housing in the city.