• Clinical Professor
• Project Description
• Project Students

Third Year Students
Rene DeVera
Justin Hoest
Anne King
Derek Little
Katherine Markowski
Maia Nam
Alex Phung
Preston  Swapp
Britanny E. Thornton
Shermon Williams

Second Year Students
Amanda Coleman
Rebecca Smith

Clinical professor: Jeff Leslie

Project description: The Housing Initiative was launched in the summer of 2002 to provide legal representation to individual and community-based housing developers, tenant groups, and other parties involved in the development of new or rehabilitated affordable housing stock. The Housing Initiative offers free legal services in all aspects of affordable housing development, with a focus on innovative transactions sponsored by community-based organizations on the south and west sides of Chicago. Examples of the services offered by the Housing Initiative include advice on transactional structuring issues; negotiation of land acquisition, construction and financing contracts; assistance in securing zoning and other governmental approvals and in addressing compliance issues under the applicable state and federal housing programs; and participation in the preparation of evidentiaries and closing documents.

For a sampling of the Housing Initiative's recent and ongoing development projects, see below:

Claretian associates new homes project: The Housing Initiative has been assisting Claretian Associates with its New Homes for Chicago program. Learn more.

Walls church project: Walls Memorial CME Church and the Joshua Ministries are working with the Housing Initiative to create a group home for homeless veterans in East Garfield Park. Learn more.

Cabrini Extension North Redevelopment Site: The Cabrini Green Local Advisory Council has retained the Housing Initiative to provide transactional legal services in connection with the $150 million transformation of the Cabrini Extension North public housing redevelopment site. Learn more.

For more information about the Irwin Askow Housing Initiative at the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, contact Jeff Leslie at 773-834-9903, or by email at jleslie@law.uchicago.edu.