Chicago Journal
by Tim Inklebarger


Individuals threatened with displacement due to rising property values in West Town got a chance at homeownership this weekend at a lottery in Humbodlt Park.

More than 100 people turned out for the lottery that would place them in low-cost homes through the affordable housing organization Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. The organization is offering 11 single-family homes and 21 condominiums running from $130,000 to $195,000 through its 26th Ward New Homes project. They all include three bedrooms and 1 ¾ to two bathrooms. The program requires a $2,500 down payment to begin a 30-year mortgage at 6.13 percent interest.

The buildings are expected to be built at various locations throughout the largely Latino ward by 2008, according to Andrea Traudt, a homeownership development coordinator with Bickerdike.

It is the first time Bickerdike has offered low-cost housing units for purchase since building 17 units in 2000 and 2001, Traudt said.

She said 190 applicants were accepted into the preliminary round of picks. The lottery held Saturday morning at the Humboldt Park field house determines the order of applicants to undergo a financial screening process for the homes. Traudt said applicants will work with the Spanish Coalition for Housing to determine if they are eligible for the loans needed to purchase the homes.

She said applicants living within Bickerdike's service area-Diversy to the north, the Kennedy Expressway to the east, Kinzie to the south and Cicero to the west-are put at the front of the application list. But she said in the past, many who've signed up realized later they weren't eligible.

"It's a pretty good likelihood that a lot of people who applied won't finish the application process," she said.

Twenty-sixth Ward Alderman Billy Ocasio and Bickerdike executive director Joy Aruguete took turns removing applicants' names from a rotating metal cage on Saturday. Ocasio told the audience that he hopes such programs can give an alternative to those being priced out of the neighborhood.

"It is a well known fact that this community has been subject to some of the worst cases of gentrification and displacement in the city of Chicago," Ocasio said in a prepared statement.

Rosemarie Weems, 59, of Oak Park, teared up when her name was called Saturday afternoon at the lottery drawing. She was soon on the phone with her goddaughter, hopeful that she would make the final cut. Weems, a program service aide at the University of Illinois, said she's been hoping to buy a place of her own, and it is the first time she has applied for an affordable unit.

"I've been praying for this for a long time," she said.

Jardd Cole, 32, of Logan Square, said both he and his aunt, Shernet Strawder, 38, applied for homes. Both were picked fairly early in the list.

"I just feel so blessed right now," he said. "When I go home and tell [my mom] the news she's going to be so happy."

The Chicago Community Land Trust will help oversee the project and make the units affordable over the long-term. Traudt said incorporating the project with the land trust will allow for a different taxing structure than in the rest of the city. She said a more fixed tax rate will prevent gentrifying areas from taxing residents out of a neighborhood.

"One of the problems in the past is people can afford to get in a home, but when taxes go up it becomes a significant burden for them to stay," she said.

Traudt said it's uncertain how long the financial screening process will last, but Bickerdike would like to break ground on the housing units this fall.

The project is financed through the city, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Charter One Bank, U.S. Bank and the Northern Trust Company.

For more information about Bickerdike, visit them on the Web at: www.bickerdike.org.