The Chicago Housing Authority has lofty, long-term plans to redevelop property around where the Cabrini-Green complex used to be, but it must start from scratch again on efforts to build something on a crucial 7-acre parcel.
The CHA has posted a new call for developers interested in the vacant property at Clybourn Avenue and Larrabee Street, after initial investors backed out. But one member of the former three-group development team is looking for new partners to pitch a redevelopment with.
Real estate experts said the setback speaks to difficulties builders face in today’s construction economy. President Donald Trump’s tariffs likely will make steel and lumber more expensive, confounding developers already leery of Chicago’s regulatory hurdles, labor costs and affordable housing requirements, analysts say.
The CHA posted its new solicitation for Clybourn and Larrabee on March 26. The notice, called a request for proposals, or RFP, invites developers to offer plans for housing-anchored construction by May 27.
The public housing agency previously had a deal with Hunt Development Group, Pennrose and Imagine Development Group. CHA executives said the partnership pursued plans for 480 units in mid-rise buildings but was unable to secure financing.
El Paso, Texas-based Hunt controlled the partnership and withdrew from the deal last August, the agency said in a February filing in federal court.
“The developer could not get sufficient funds,” said Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., whose 27th ward includes the former Cabrini region. “I just hope we can start getting this thing going soon.”
Hunt did not respond to a request for comment.
Pennrose, which Hunt holds interest stakes in, said it left the Chicago market completely “after many years of failing to make progress on tax credit for the [Cabrini] site.” The Philadelphia-based developer will not respond to the new RFP, according to Tom Anderson, Pennrose’s senior vice president of development.
“We have decided to completely exit the Chicago market to focus on other locations around the country where we’re having some success,” Anderson said.
Chicago-based Imagine Group, which specializes in affordable and mixed-income housing, said it still wants to play a role in the site’s redevelopment.
“Imagine is talking to several other potential partners and will be responding to the RFP,” Principal Torrey Barrett said in a statement. “Our team is dedicated to finishing the promise we made to the residents of this community more than 5 years ago.”
Burnett said neighbors have been deeply engaged with the CHA’s redevelopment plans. “The neighbors recognized that Clybourn and Larrabee is CHA property, and they are embracing the plans for mixed-income housing,” he said.
Answering the proposal
The new RFP requires at least 180 CHA-subsidized units be built on the site. Developers would operate under a long-term lease with the CHA.
The document also calls for a broad mix of market-rate units and those classified as affordable under city ordinance. About 450 units in total would be authorized, depending on zoning reviews.
The Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Council, plaintiffs in long-running litigation with the CHA over replacement housing for Cabrini-Green families, argued in court that the agency didn’t need to issue a new solicitation after Hunt’s withdrawal. The council feared it would delay progress.
But in February, U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang allowed the new RFP to go forward. Two leaders of the local council, Maurice Edwards and Pastor Randall Blakey of LaSalle Street Church, could not be reached for comment.
The RFP uses an address of 1450 N. Larrabee St. for the site, an irregular wedge-shaped parcel once home to Near North High School and next to a park. The high school closed in 2001 and the RFP said the CHA demolished the building in 2023.
In a written statement, the CHA said: “We are excited to identify new development partners for this important site in the Cabrini Green community. To move this effort forward, CHA issued a new solicitation on an accelerated timeline while fully complying with all legal and procurement requirements. We’ve also made a concerted effort to engage a wide range of potential development partners, ensuring we attract the strongest, most capable teams to deliver high-quality housing and transformative development.”
The Clybourn-Larrabee parcel is just north of various sites the CHA eyes for long-term development, a process it calls Cabrini Now. It has floated development ideas for about 43 acres on a stretch bound by North and Chicago avenues, Wells and Halsted streets.
Grocery stores, high-end retailers and expensive housing have taken hold in the area in recent years. The Cabrini Now master plan is not final but currently calls for 4,080 units of mixed-income housing, with some in high-rises. It has proposed more green space, including an urban farm and a connection for Seward and Durso parks.
The agency has held three community meetings on the plan and wants to finalize it in coming weeks.
The last Cabrini high-rise was torn down in 2011. Redevelopment on the Near North Side could help the agency close out “right of return” obligations it owes to families from its years of tearing down crime-plagued and neglected public housing projects.
In a 1999 settlement, the CHA owed that right to more than 16,000 families. It reported at the end of last year that 133 families still had that right, with 10,567 families placed in CHA units. It said the rest have died, been evicted or cannot be reached.
The agency said 33 of the 133 families have a right to return specifically to the Cabrini area.