Fall Land Sale Offerings Include Sites for Courtyard Buildings, Missing Middle Housing

More than 475 vacant City lots are being offered for private purchase beginning Thursday, Oct. 1, including a trio of Grand Boulevard sites to be made available for contemporary courtyard buildings and 16 Humboldt Park lots for Missing Middle housing, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) announced today.

"If we're going to succeed in coming together as a city to repopulate the South and West sides, then government must do our part by repurposing the City's surplus land for neighborhood needs, starting with housing," Mayor Johnson said. "This fall's application period builds upon the incredible process we've made in past offerings while advancing new and innovative opportunities to create more homes where they're needed most."

Included in the October ChiBlockBuilder listings is a Courtyard Buildings Request for Proposals (RFP), part of a DPD pilot that could help reestablish the once-popular building typology within residential neighborhoods. The housing style proliferated citywide in the early 1900s after social reformers like Jane Adams helped pass a tenement ordinance that limited multifamily construction to 65% lot coverage, or 80% on corner parcels. The resulting L-, U- and S-shaped building styles became the backbone of the City's multifamily housing stock, offering apartments with windows in every room and access to green space. Zoning code changes in 1957 effectively put an end to traditional courtyard construction by requiring rear-yard setbacks instead of street-facing green space.

The three RFP sites targeted for new courtyard buildings - 4200 S. Indiana Ave., 4500-14 S. Indiana Ave. and 4823 S. Evans Ave. - will be subject to zoning relief in cooperation with the 3rd and 4th ward offices, possibly as a precursor to zoning amendments that allow the structures citywide by-right in RM-5 or other zoning districts. The sites' market values range from approximately $258,000 to $728,000. Qualified developers may submit responses to the RFP through Jan. 10, 2027. For more information, visit Chicago.gov/RFPs.

The Missing Middle properties represent the fifth application round for DPD's infill housing initiative, which is promoting the construction of two- to six-unit owner-occupied structures that have gone "missing" from many neighborhoods due to systemic disinvestment. The listings include 16 lots within four clusters of land generally located on the 400 and 500 blocks of Hamlin Avenue, the 500 block of North Lawndale Avenue and near the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Monticello Avenue. Potential development incentives include up to $150,000 in financial assistance per unit and the sale of each lot for $1. Qualified housing developers may submit Missing Middle applications through Nov. 16. For more information, visit Chicago.gov/MissingMiddle.

The remaining 455 lots are available through the ChiBlockBuilder land sale portal for commercial, residential and mixed-use construction, as well as side yards, open spaces and urban agriculture. Collectively valued at $36 million, the lots' market values range from $3,000 to $1.1 million.

For the first time since ChiBlockBuilder launched in 2022, each listing includes available environmental records.

Interested buyers can review the listings and submit applications at ChiBlockBuilder.com through Nov. 16.