Design for Lathrop Homes Development Could Be Weeks Away

There are new reports that the design team behind the Julia C. Lathrop Homes redevelopment is nearing a presentation date, three months after they were originally expected.

The Lathrop Community Partners—the five-part design team orchestrating the transformation with the Chicago Housing Authority—were supposed to present a feedback-based design in March. At the time, there was no clear timeline regarding when they would finish, but now officials say it could be weeks away.

The community organization Hamlin Park Neighbors has been working closely with developers to ensure community concerns are addressed. Leaders with that group say everyone has been in the dark, but the big reveal could come soon.

“It is our understanding that a direction for Lathrop Homes will be announced by the CHA in the next few weeks,” the group wrote in an email. “We have been assured that nobody, not even the Alderman have an idea what this direction may be.”

Neighborhood resident Geoff Dankert wrote in the Center Square Journal saying he acquired an email from the development’s working group in regards to a meeting at the Housing and Urban Development’s office on June 19.

A spokesperson with the CHA did not immediately comment on the supposed meeting, just saying the plan was coming “in the near future.”

Back in Mark, general plans for Lathrop Homes’ transformation included no more than 1,300 units, 70,000-square-feet of new retail spaces and a more fluid connection to the Chicago River.

The first phase of construction at the 32-acre site would begin at the end of 2014 on the north side of the project in North Center, making its way down toward Lincoln Park. Officials say each phase could last anywhere between 18 months to 2 years.

Although 925 units are currently available, only 160 families still live at Lathrop Homes, a calculated reduction to make way for construction. Representatives with the Lathrop Community Partners say they live on the south end of the site and will be relocated to the new buildings on the north side once they’re constructed.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) has long advocated for the neighborhood saying 1,300 units and building heights up to 28 stories were far too excessive.

Kerry Dickson, senior vice president of Related Midwest, said any new renderings would be a feedback-based design and take criticism into consideration.