Chicago Construction News staff writer
Citizens Building a Better Community broke ground this week on seven two-flat buildings in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, marking the first phase of 115 market-rate housing units planned under the city’s Missing Middle infill housing initiative.
The project is part of a neighborhood repopulation strategy led by the Department of Planning and Development that uses city-owned land and public financing to spur construction of medium-density housing in South and West Side communities that have experienced decades of disinvestment.
The $5.4 million development will convert seven formerly vacant city-owned lots on the 1400 and 1500 blocks of South Trumbull and Homan avenues and the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard into new homes. The units will be marketed to buyers earning up to 140% of the area median income, or $134,400 for a two-person household.
Missing Middle provides city-owned lots to developers for $1 and offers up to $150,000 per unit in public funding to help align construction costs with market-rate sale prices. Funding is supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond.
Four additional Missing Middle projects are expected to break ground in North Lawndale early this year. Those developments are being led by minority-owned firms Alteza Group, Westside Community Group, Beauty for Ashes and Sunshine Management. Selected in January 2025 through a competitive request-for-proposals process, the five North Lawndale projects include 40 multi-unit buildings valued at more than $37 million.
A second round of Missing Middle developments is underway in Chatham, South Chicago and Morgan Park, totaling 101 housing units across 31 buildings with an estimated value of $38.8 million.
Developer selections for a third round of projects in McKinley Park, West Garfield Park and East Garfield Park are expected this spring.
City officials say the Missing Middle initiative is intended to expand housing options, support neighborhood reinvestment and increase opportunities for homeownership in historically underserved areas.
