Lathrop Homes: ‘Everyone’s Not Going to be Satisfied’

Poised to cost “hundreds of millions of dollars,” developers crafting the future of Lathrop Homes went over the master plan for the mega-development Tuesday, but the news had some people shouting from the balcony.

The Lathrop Community Partners—a five-part design team behind the project—revealed a bird’s-eye site plan for the project July 19, vaguely showing many of the historic buildings from 1938 preserved. 

It was in response to more than 200 interviews, and more than a dozen community meetings to gather reactions on three proposals, each of which struck a negative chord with neighbors and Lathrop Homes residents.  After months of work, the feedback-based design touched on many issues.

“It does respond very directly to the comments and feedback and surveys we got back from you in November, and I think you’re going to like it,” said Doug Farr with the Lathrop Community Partners. “We heard that we had three designs, we heard that they were too dense and we have responded.”

Rather than 1,600 housing units proposed in 2012, developers now say they’re seeking 1,116 units, roughly 100 less than what the land is zoned to allow. Public housing will account for 400 units, 212 will be affordable housing with 504 meant for market-rate units. That would replace the 925 units there today.

That’s accompanied by 752 residential parking spaces, seen as some as an influx in congestion. Farr, however, says the team is seeking to build enough essential retailers inside Lathrop Hopes that it becomes a walkable community for residents.

As for buildings, developers plan to keep a vast majority of the historic brown brick structures north of Diversey Parkway. A majority south of the border, on the other hand, would be replaced.

“We retain 14 of the 17 buildings on the north side of Diversey,” Farr said. “We also retain almost all the buildings on the both sides of Diversey as you’re driving down. … That experience, the look and feel you had in 1938, it’s maintained and stays.”

Farr says all of the new buildings will be between two and eight stories, outside the “Iconic Building” planned for the southern-most tip of the development. How tall that residential building will be has yet to be decided.

Congestion at the intersection where Diversey meets Clybourn and Damen avenues will also be addressed by adding new roads to Leavitt Street down Damen Avenue. A new signal will be added near the Costco entrance, and multiple area intersections will be optimized with left-and right-turn signals, among other things.

Roughly 25,000-square-feet of new retail storefronts will also be added, as well as multiple new parks and public areas along the Chicago River. Both will be used to draw neighbors to Lathrop Homes and make it a part of the community.

The Chicago Housing Authority’s Chief Development Officer Michael Jasso says they hoped to get more feedback Tuesday, and then have a final plan in place this fall. The first phase of construction would then hopefully start in 2015 on not only public housing, but all the units.

Residents React to Lathrop Changes

Feedback on the master plan is just what the group received. When it came time for the question and answer portion of the night, neighbors and Lathrop Homes residents spoke up, shouting from the balcony at New Life Community Church where the meeting was held.

Groups wearing matching black shirts reading, “Save Lathrop Homes” and “No Market Rate” asked questions like what would happen to the 525 units of public housing being replaced, and why did any historic buildings need to be torn down? CHA representatives answered, saying the misplaced housing would be made up elsewhere, and they have to rebuild some of Lathrop because it’s already not functioning appropriately.

As a resident of Lathrop Homes for 24 years, Miguel Suarez says he thinks the entire presentation was directed to excite neighbors, not address issues facing current residents.

“It’s not about that, it’s about who it was geared to impress,” Suarez said. “And that was not the residents.”

Neighbor Stephanie Blatt, on the other hand, says she thinks the developers actually listened to area residents and implemented their wants into the master plan. But she says she still understands the needs of Lathrop residents.

“Today’s presentation was great,” Blatt said. “I’ve been to several of these, and they seem to have taken our ideas into consideration. … Everyone’s not going to be satisfied, but they need to address some of the (Lathrop Homes residents) needs better.”

Farr says the Lathrop Community Partners will be back again before anything is finalized in a planned development with the city.