Chicago Publicโ Schools poised to sell three long-vacant school buildings to developers proposing housing, affordable senior options
Chicago could see โthree shuttered schoolโค buildings repurposed as housing after recent bids and community engagement, signaling a potential shift forโข vacant CPS properties. The Chicago Board of Education is consideringโ proposals for the former Bontemps Elementary in โฃEnglewood, the Henson Elementary, and a third unnamed school, perhaps offering โคa mix of single-family homes, affordable apartments, โฃand senior housing.
The moves come as CPS continues to grapple with declining enrollmentโ and a portfolio of โunderutilized buildings. At least one other former CPS school,King Elementaryโ in Tri-Taylor,has alreadyโค been successfully redeveloped into 30 single-family homes,completed โคin โข2020 after being purchased by a developer in 2017.
For the Bontemps school, Devereaux Peters, a former WNBA player and now affordable housing developer, hasโข offered $75,000 to demolish the building and construct two new buildings: one โฃwith 72 units featuringโ amenities like a fitness center and coworking space, and another withโค 60 units specifically designed for seniors looking to downsize within the community. The current structure, โaccording โto CPS officials, lacks working plumbing, electric, and mechanical systems. A community meeting was โขheld in October, and local Alderman Stephanieโฃ Coleman supports the project.
Past attempts to sell Bontemps have stalled. In 2017,the school board approved a โข$50,000 bid from IFF,a Chicago-based nonprofit lender and developer,but the sale never โฃfinalized.
Another proposal involves Hensonโฃ Elementary, where MKB offered $25,000,โ but was outbid โคby Calling Waterโข LLC at $30,000. The plan from Calling Waterโฃ LLC had the supportโค of local Alderperson Monique Scott, despite contention during a community โฃmeeting.
in 2018, the Board of Educationโฃ approved a $55,000 bid from the Single Room โขHousing Assistance Corporation to convertโค Henson into 80 mini-studio apartments for low-income individuals, including veterans,โ single mothers, and people with disabilities, but that saleโฃ also failed to close.