Chicago's $27.6 million Missing Middle housing program, fourth phase, selected four development teams to build 62 homes on 30 vacant lots in South Chicago and West Englewood, a scale that could function as a shared-productivity catalyst by concentrating new residential investment in wards that lost the most housing stock over the past decade. [S1][S2][S3] The program targets two- to six-unit residential buildings, a typology that has largely disappeared from many neighborhoods following decades of disinvestment and demolitions. [S1][S2]
Mayor Brandon Johnson and DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright announced the selections on September 3, 2026, drawing from 34 submissions to a spring 2026 Request for Applications. [S2][S3] The four winning teams are: 75 Development ($6.8 million, eight two-flats on the 8400 block of S Baker Ave. in South Chicago); Vazquez Housing Development ($6.2 million, five two-flats on the 8300 block of S Buffalo Ave. in South Chicago); Blazer Jones ($5.2 million, four two-flats and two three-flats on the 8400 block of S Buffalo Ave. in South Chicago); and Blueprint Ventures ($9.35 million, 11 two-flats on the 1700 block of W 69th St. in West Englewood). [S1][S2][S3]
The financial structure is unusual for Chicago real estate. The city sells each vacant municipal lot to developers for $1 and layers on up to $150,000 per housing unit in construction subsidies, funded through Housing and Economic Development Bond proceeds, pending City Council approval. [S1][S2][S3] At least one unit per building must be sold to an owner-occupant earning up to 140 percent of the area median income, or $134,400 annually for a two-person household as of 2026. [S1][S2][S3] The city has waived its Affordable Requirements Ordinance for Missing Middle projects, reasoning that the built-in price ceiling for low-to-moderate-income buyers accomplishes neighborhood affordability goals without extra set-aside mandates. [S3]
Program context and scale
The fourth phase builds on more than 300 homes already advancing across North Lawndale, Chatham, South Chicago, Morgan Park, McKinley Park, and East and West Garfield Park through the program's first three application rounds. [S2][S3] The program traces back to a January 2025 pilot in North Lawndale, where the city selected five minority-led development teams to construct 40 buildings valued at $37.7 million across 35 vacant lots. [S3]
Research from DePaul University's Institute for Housing Studies found that Chicago lost 11,775 housing units in two- to four-unit buildings between 2013 and 2019, with 47.5 percent converted into single-family homes and the rest demolished into vacant land or otherwise repurposed. [S3] Deconversions were concentrated in high-cost, gentrifying neighborhoods, while demolitions of neglected structures left thousands of vacant lots across South and West Side communities. [S3] Chicago passed the Connected Communities Ordinance in 2022, requiring property owners inside transit-oriented development buffers to get full City Council zoning approval before deconverting multi-family buildings into single-family homes, a response directly tied to the DePaul findings. [S3]
Shared-productivity mechanism
The program's design may serve as a shared-productivity catalyst by concentrating new housing in neighborhoods that have experienced decades of disinvestment, potentially increasing local property tax bases, supporting local contractors and suppliers, and creating new homeowner equity in wards where homeownership rates have lagged. [S1][S2] DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright stated: "Missing Middle homes are the foundation for the City's repopulation goals in neighborhoods that have yet to recuperate from decades of demolitions. It means more families, more homeowners, and more community wealth-building." [S2]
Developers apply for land clusters through ChiBlockBuilder, a centralized online portal launched in late 2022 that maps environmental clearance status, zoning, lot dimensions, and market values for city-owned parcels. [S3] The system replaces a patchwork of disparate municipal land-sale programs with one transparent, searchable database. [S3] The four selected teams emerged from a field of 34 developer applications. [S2][S3]
- 75 Development: $6.8 million, eight two-flats, 8400 block S Baker Ave., South Chicago [S1][S2][S3]
- Vazquez Housing Development: $6.2 million, five two-flats, 8300 block S Buffalo Ave., South Chicago [S1][S2][S3]
- Blazer Jones: $5.2 million, four two-flats and two three-flats, 8400 block S Buffalo Ave., South Chicago [S1][S2][S3]
- Blueprint Ventures: $9.35 million, 11 two-flats, 1700 block W 69th St., West Englewood [S1][S2][S3]
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