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Board highlights $10M Pritzker prize for Reclaiming Chicago; asks county to consider TIF support for down-payment aid
Summary
Board members celebrated United Power for Action and Justice’s Reclaiming Chicago program for winning a $10 million Pritzker prize to build 2,000 homes and heard requests to earmark TIF surplus for down-payment assistance; the board also recognized environmental awards and several ceremonial resolutions before approving the consent calendar.
Commissioner Gaynor and representatives from United Power for Action and Justice and Lawndale Christian Development Corporation briefed the Cook County Board about a major private prize and a request for public support to convert that philanthropic award into large-scale homebuilding on the South and West sides.
Gaynor said the coalition had won a ‘‘$10,000,000 prize from the Pritzkers’’ that will support plans to build up to 2,000 homes in targeted neighborhoods. Richard Towntell, executive director of Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, said the initiative—Reclaiming Chicago—has already raised $42 million in private funds, is building in Roseland, Pullman, Back of the Yards and Chicago Lawn, and asked the county to consider using a portion of the county’s reported $1 billion in TIF surplus as earmarked down-payment assistance to keep homes affordable.
Towntell told commissioners the partners were pursuing a mix of private construction loans and public support and asked the board to ‘‘think through with us how we could get some of the $1,000,000,000 in TIF surplus that was designed to spur housing and economic development in the very neighborhoods reclaiming is developing in.’’
Separately, Commissioner Degnan presented item 26-0642 recognizing awards accepted by the county’s Department of Environment and Sustainability: a Golden Trumpet Award for Climate Resiliency Planning for Communities and a 2025 National Pollution Prevention Roundtable MVP for the BRIGHT Program, which helps businesses reduce waste and conserve energy.
After a series of recognitions and comments, the board approved the consent calendar on a voice vote after Commissioner Kevin Morrison moved approval. Co-sponsorships were added on the floor to select resolutions as requested by commissioners.
No roll-call vote tally was recorded on the consent calendar in the meeting transcript; the chair declared the ayes have it and the board adjourned.
