by Jessica Benford, ’06
The Irwin Askow Housing Initiative is working with the West Humboldt Park Development Council (WHPDC) to help it realize its goal of increasing the availability of affordable housing. The WHPDC serves an area bounded by Cicero Avenue to the West, Kedzie Avenue to the East, North Avenue to the North and Lake Street to the South.
The WHPDC has spearheaded the creation of a community land trust through a community planning process—the first of its kind in the City of Chicago—named the First Community Land Trust of Chicago (FCLTC).The FCLTC will acquire parcels of land in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood where new housing will be built. Homeowners will lease the underlying land from the FCLTC. Because the purchaser only buys the house, it will be less expensive than a comparable home in the area. In an environment of steadily rising real estate prices, the project will allow more families to become homeowners than otherwise might have been possible. Land trust property will be managed by a community group so that residents and community members will have a voice in the planning and development of their neighborhood.
The Housing Initiative’s legal assistance began in 2004 when Housing Initiative students revised the FCLTC’s ground lease. The ground lease provides affordability restrictions, spells out the rights of the homeowner to the land, contains the duration of the land trust and describes how homes on land trust property can be sold. The ground lease ensures that the stock of affordable housing is preserved.
Housing Initiative students also played a major role in drafting the bylaws of the FCLTC. The bylaws make it possible for residents of the land trust, businesses, area developers, nonprofits, and other interested community members to participate in the trust's management.
Students in the Housing Initiative corresponded with the Internal Revenue Service in order to provide sufficient information for the FCLTC to become atax-exempt,501(c)(3) organization. This status means that the FCLTC does not have to pay income taxes, can receive donations, and potentially qualify for certain programs and subsidies.
Currently, students are negotiating a design-build construction contract to build homes on parcels the FCLTC has acquired.They are also advising the WHPDC about whether to enter a joint venture or form an affiliate to develop the homes.
