Redevelopment plans for the Julia C. Lathrop Homes pushed forward this week as the Chicago Housing Authority deliberated over the selection of a master development team for the project. But as designs for the project begin to take shape, some opinions remain split over the intended future of the homes.

On Tuesday, the agency’s board of commissioners entertained a recommendation for the appointment of the newly-merged Lathrop Community Partners to lead the redevelopment, closing in on the end of a nearly year-long selection process for the multi-stage development.

“LCP provided the most well-articulated … and qualified team presentation,” said John Gerut, development management vice president for CHA, at a committee hearing for the recommendation last week. “The team is ready and excited to initiate the planning process with residents, community and stakeholders.”

The approval was deferred due to recusals from three of the board’s voting members.

The project, which preliminary analyses say will cost between $340 million and $722 million, is expected to see major changes in both the resident make-up and architectural design of the historic 925-unit public housing complex bordering the northwest edge of Lincoln Park, where tenant occupancy has dropped steadily in recent years.

In January, CHA issued a request for qualifications for developers bidding on the Lathrop project, which, among other requirements, sought firms with experience in affordable housing development, historic rehabbing and sustainable design practices. The redevelopment scope outlined in the RFQ foresaw approximately 800 to 1,200 units at the 37-acre site, with a maximum of 400 residences set aside for public housing and the rest divided between affordable and market-rate units.

Gerut said that five qualifying teams vied for the contract, out of an initial six responses. The LCP roster is comprised of a number of local and regional development firms, including Related Midwest, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., Magellan Development Group, Heartland Housing and Ardmore Associates.

Related Midwest, the leading firm in the group, has received several awards for historic rehabilitation and preservation. West Side-based Bickerdike’s development portfolio includes more than 1,063 units of affordable housing in Chicago, with Heartland touting similar figures across the Midwest region.

“We’ve tried to put together a team that can look at the project pretty holistically,” said Andy Geer, vice president and executive director of Heartland.

According to CHA, the recommendation to elect LCP came down from the Lathrop’s working group, a body of stakeholders chosen to steer the redevelopment, including resident council leaders, members of housing agency, city officials and a court-appointed receiver, the Habitat Company.

Built by the Public Works Administration in 1938, Lathrop has long been an anomaly in the city’s sphere of public housing.

The 32-building development, located along the east bank of the Chicago River on the city’s Northwest Side, is made up of two-, three- and four-story mid-rises and rowhouses. Originally inhabited by Jewish residents, the development now consists of a predominantly African-American and Latino tenant population, with a Caucasian minority and a nearly 60-percent senior population, according to CHA.

Since the initial plans to redevelop Lathrop were announced in 2006, Robert Davidson, the development’s Local Advisory Council president, has remained firm in his position that Lathrop isn’t ready to move on from its long-held format of 100 percent public housing.

Davidson, along with neighboring resident group leaders, has called for a plan that would have Lathrop consist of one half public housing and the other half affordable rental and tenant-owned units.

Preservationists familiar with the project have also advocated that the option of rehabilitation should be seriously weighed in the planning for Lathrop, noting the architectural and historic significance of the development, as well as pointing to results from CHA-led studies that have shown that rehab would be more cost-effective than new construction at the site.

CHA has repeatedly said designs for unit and building density at Lathrop have not yet been finalized, and wouldn’t be without clear community support and board approval. But that mantra has been overshadowed by guidelines prescribed in the agency’s Plan for Transformation, a city-wide redevelopment vision which sees Chicago’s concentrated patches of public housing re-scattered throughout neighborhoods of varying income levels.

“They seem to have predetermined the future of this community, and I was working from the assumption of ‘to be determined,’” said Davidson, who has lived at Lathrop for nearly 20 years.

Reducing the public housing stock at Lathrop would be a mistake, he said, in part because the city is in need of replenished CHA housing while market-rate vacancies in the area are steadily on the rise. Davidson said he viewed the mixed-income provision as a financing scheme by the housing authority.

“I don’t think Lathrop Homes should be cut up and sold into market-rate and affordables to satisfy bad management in the past,” he said. “My position is to protect the public housing residents who need Lathrop the most.”

As a result of what he saw as a general lack of resident inclusion in the project, Davidson excused himself from the final selection of the developer team.

But his visions for Lathrop may yet be fulfilled, as some local leaders say the continued presence of public housing remains a priority of the surrounding community.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), whose ward borders the development along the river, said that, from what he has heard, resident views on Lathrop have leaned toward support for the rehabilitation of the development.

“I’m sure opposition to the public housing exists somewhere, but I have not witnessed it,” said Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno (1st).

An ex-officio member of the Lathrop working group, Moreno stepped into his role in the 1st Ward directly after the issuance of the Lathrop RFQ, following the departure of former Ald. Manny Flores, who left the post in January to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Moreno said that Davidson’s recusal did not mark the end of his participation in the group.

“Mr. Davidson is a good friend of mine and is going to be very instrumental in the decisions made in this process,” Moreno said. “He’s got a seat at the table, as far as I’m concerned.”

The recommendation to appoint LCP to the Lathrop Redevelopment will be heard at a future board meeting, said a spokesperson for CHA. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 19. The community planning, phasing and funding processes for the project are slated to take place over the next year.

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By kostyan from Lathrop neighbor
Posted: 09/27/2010 2:45 PM

“I’m sure opposition to the public housing exists somewhere, but I have not witnessed it,” said Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno (1st). Witness one. I've bought a condo across lathrop (was told they are demolishing it). And now it's going to be fully public? it means I'll loose money, will work for mortgage bigger than my condo price (it'll go down a lot I believe).

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By Boyee from Lincoln Park
Posted: 09/23/2010 10:36 PM

This project is half in Lincoln Park and half in Hamlin Park. They should have the LP half be market rate and the Hamlin Park half be affordable and public. This will help the development fit in more with the neighborhoods that surround them. Lincoln Park is a horrible place for a project.