Since 2007, the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference (RVP) has brought people together from around the country to discuss the latest in community development, whether they are from urban, suburban or rural communities. This year, Chicago played host to this well-regarded event and displayed its accomplishments to attendees.

The 3-day event featured prominent keynote speakers such as lecturer and author, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi as well as Chicago’s own, Tonika Johnson, who created the Folded Map project that sheds light on the inequality in Chicago neighborhoods.

Aside from the thought-provoking lectures and workshops, attendees also could join tours, two of which were led by CCLF. The first was a bus tour to give attendees insight to how CCLF works with small scale community developers rehabbing small residential properties in the Chicago Neighborhood ReBuild program (ReBuild), a City of Chicago Housing Department led initiative that includes the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Community Investment Corporation, workforce development partners 1 City United and CARA and is administered by CCLF.

The tour left the Hilton Chicago with a bus full of curious attendees from around the country. CCLF’s David Feinberg and Sean Harden started the tour by explaining that ReBuild was developed to address abandoned properties in high crime neighborhoods. Assistant Housing Commissioner, Will Edwards, was on the tour and described why the city felt it was necessary to create a housing rehab program with a strong workforce development component targeting ex-offenders and hard to employ youth.

The first stop was NeighborScapes, “a non-profit organization with a mission to strengthen the physical and social fabric of neighborhoods, and to create a covenant of care, enrichment and development for young people.” The NeighborScapes President, Jay Readey, discussed the Innovation Houses program in Englewood that rehabs vacant houses and then places into the houses mission-driven people (Mission-Motivated Millennials), who agree to a co-living experience that involves reduced rent in exchange for their commitment to serve the neighborhood.

The second, and last, stop was a rehab project of a ReBuild developer, Levar Love.  Love discussed his involvement with the program, what was happening with the home, how it came to be, and the workforce development team involved with the rebab. The workforce development team is a vital part of the program because it helps youth and ex-offenders train for careers.

The next day, several RVP thrill-seeking attendees wanted a Chicago adventure, so they toured the Bronzeville neighborhood on bicycles led by CCLF President Calvin Holmes and David Feinberg, CCLF Director of Coaching and Knowledge transfer.

After picking up their bike rentals and helmets downtown, the group trekked south on the lake-shore bike path to their first stop at the old Michael Reese Hospital site where they were greeted by Alderman Sophia King of the 4^th Ward. She explained the history of Michael Reese Hospital and the plans for the new development of that site that includes the future home of the Bronzeville Lakefront project, a multi-billion-dollar, mixed-use, multi-phase project that will provide large-scale economic benefit and impact to Bronzeville and its surrounding communities. CCLF (with participation from Arc Chicago LLC, the fund created by MacArthur Foundation to implement the Benefit Chicago Initiative) is a predevelopment lender on this project.   

Next, the group took 31^st Street to Pilgrim Baptist Church/National Gospel History Museum on 33^rd and Indiana. Pilgrim is credited as the birthplace of gospel music in the 1930s. Thomas A. Dorsey, the Father of Gospel Music, was the music director at the church for decades. Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, the Staples Singers and the Edwin Hawkins Singers performed at the church.

The bike tour stopped next at the Victory Monument at 35^th and King Drive, which was erected in 1927 by sculptor Leonard Crunelle in honor of the Bronzeville-based “Fighting Eighth” Regiment of the Illinois National Guard. The regiment went on to serve valiantly as the 370th Infantry of the 93rd Division at the beginning of World War I.

Next was 36^th and King Drive, the former home of journalist and Civil Rights leader Ida B. Wells who is best known for anti-lynching campaigns.

The group went on to the Barclay Law Group location on the east side in the middle of King Drive at 35^th Street (a CCLF financed project) and then on to the site of the Supreme Life Insurance building at the corner of 35^th and King Drive. This was the longtime headquarters of the first African-American owned and operated insurance company in the northern United States.

The next stop was the Oakwood Shores mixed-income housing development on the site of the former Ida B. Wells housing projects, the largest CHA Transformation project with 3,000 units. CCLF has made several loans across multiple phases of the project.

Grove Place Housing Cooperative, a 344 unit mixed-income property was next on the tour where the group met the developer, Joseph Williams, Chairman of The Granite Companies, LLC, who discussed his projects, that included the Oakwood Shores housing development, and his long-time affiliation with CCLF and CCLF’s land banking loan for the housing cooperative.

On the way to meet 3^rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell, the group rode south on Cottage Grove past another CCLF funded project, the site of the future Lillian Marcie Performing Arts Center at 43rd Street, the brainchild of actor Harry Lennix.

The tour continued south on Cottage Grove passed the 4400 Grove Apartments and the Shops & Lofts of 47^th Street (that houses CCLF financed Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken restaurant) and finally making it to Overton School (now a community center) for a discussion with 3^rd Ward Alderman Dowell and developer Ghian Foreman. At this stop refreshments were provided by CCLF financed social enterprise Momentum Café.

Realizing that they needed to head back downtown, the group headed north on State Street, passing several CCLF funded projects such as the Chicago Trend projects at 39^th and State (Bronzeville Heights development) and TREND South State Partners, LLC at 21^st and State Streets (which houses Momentum Coffee) in the South Loop, before finally making it back to the bike rental shop exhausted, excited and inspired by what they saw.