27th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards 2021
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Mural: Woodlawn Works, Rahmaan Statik and <strong>Chicago</strong> Public Art Group, 2015<br />
RENEWAL<br />
<strong>27th</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
<strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong> ®<br />
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, <strong>2021</strong>
RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS<br />
IN MEMORIAM<br />
This year <strong>Chicago</strong> lost a true friend of the neighborhoods and visionary leader in Richard<br />
H. Driehaus, who in 1998 partnered with LISC to create the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation<br />
Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design.<br />
A focus on neighborhood architecture was unheard of at the time Richard conceived of the<br />
award - architectural awards were reserved for downtown structures and institutional uses.<br />
Over the years, architects and community partners in 72 projects in neighborhoods across<br />
the city have been recognized for collaborative and innovative neighborhood architecture.<br />
Richard’s vision and commitment to quality design for all <strong>Chicago</strong>ans has had an undeniable<br />
lasting impact on how community development real estate is considered and done in<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong>.<br />
Richard’s personal engagement in the CNDA event was always a highlight of the evening.<br />
His passion for <strong>Chicago</strong> neighborhoods, enthusiasm for the community builders and architects<br />
being recognized and spontaneity was inspiring.<br />
Tonight we are announcing a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Richard<br />
H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design that will<br />
include opportunities to tour Driehaus award winning buildings and learning sessions with<br />
community developers and architects about the Award’s ongoing impact in <strong>Chicago</strong>. We<br />
hope you will join us.
My Dear Friends<br />
and Neighbors,<br />
It is my great honor to join you all today to<br />
celebrate the accomplishments of our city’s<br />
neighborhood developers at this year’s <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
<strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong> (CNDA).<br />
For me, this event is always particularly exciting<br />
because it brings together community and<br />
for-profit organizations and professionals from<br />
all over our city to not only honor this year’s<br />
awardees, but also recognize the deeply<br />
impactful work that is being done to strengthen<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong>’s neighborhoods.<br />
Our 77 neighborhoods are 77 of our greatest<br />
assets and must be treated as such. Our city is<br />
brimming with block clubs and community organizations<br />
who are doing just that—dedicating their time, talents, and energy to improve our<br />
neighborhoods from the inside out. The positive impact of their many contributions is also<br />
reflective of why it is so important that we recognize and honor their hard work at events<br />
like the CNDA.<br />
This past year has been difficult for us all. But through each and every one of this year’s<br />
CNDA winners and applicants flows the same resilient spirit that sets our city apart from any<br />
other place on the planet and sheds light even on our darkest days. In a time still marked by<br />
uncertainty, it is beyond heartening to see this kind of resilience and tenacity for protecting<br />
the health and wellbeing of our residents resonate throughout our neighborhoods.<br />
Today’s awards are not only prestigious honors, but blueprints as well. And these blueprints<br />
will show us how to build and support the community-led design processes we need in<br />
order to create the more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable city we all deserve.<br />
Thank you and congratulations to you all.<br />
Lori E. Lightfoot<br />
Mayor<br />
Dear Friends,<br />
Welcome to the <strong>27th</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
<strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong>!<br />
Every year when we gather together, we look<br />
back at the year that has passed. I think it is<br />
safe to say that 2020 was a pivotal year for<br />
our society, for our communities and for many<br />
of us as individuals. It challenged our notions<br />
of equity and justice as a pandemic and racial<br />
reckoning sent shockwaves through our city<br />
and nation.<br />
Last year when we gathered in May of 2020<br />
to honor the year’s best designs, plans and<br />
campaigns, we recognized the importance of<br />
community as we contemplated the unforeseen<br />
challenges brought on by COVID-19.<br />
After experiencing such upheaval, it is always the hope that we will come through it<br />
changed for the better—and ready to create change for the better. That change starts with<br />
renewal, which is the theme of this year’s ceremony. To renew means to make like new; to<br />
restore to freshness, vigor or perfection; to make new spiritually; to regenerate, to revive;<br />
and to make extensive changes in; to rebuild. That is both a literal and metaphorical description<br />
of what we are here to celebrate tonight.<br />
As always, every group and project you will learn about tonight has made a profound difference<br />
in the life of their communities and our city. Some campaigns or developments were<br />
completed just in time to aid their communities in a time of stress. Others were created by<br />
communities in response to the challenges and inequities they have faced for a long time.<br />
Whether long planned or newly conceived, the work of the organizations and partnerships<br />
will have sustainable impact. So tonight, we honor both the particular designs, plans and<br />
campaigns, as well as those whose work is always that of renewal—who time and time again<br />
help us regenerate, restore and rebuild community.<br />
Finally, a special thank you to our donors and partners who worked so hard to bring you this<br />
unique event. But I save the biggest thanks for every individual behind the organizations we<br />
are here to recognize. Your achievements, despite the challenges that surrounded us, are<br />
incredible inspirations. You served—and transformed—your communities when they needed<br />
it most.<br />
Meghan K. Harte<br />
Executive Director, LISC <strong>Chicago</strong>
AWARDS COMMITTEE<br />
JUDGES<br />
Deborah Bennett<br />
Polk Bros. Foundation (CHAIR)<br />
Jeff Bone<br />
Landon Bone Baker Architects<br />
Eva Brown<br />
Fifth Third Bank<br />
Katie Cangimi<br />
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois<br />
Julie Chavez<br />
Bank of America<br />
Charlie Corrigan<br />
JPMorgan Chase<br />
Juliet De Jesus Alejandre<br />
Logan Square<br />
<strong>Neighborhood</strong> Association<br />
Lawrence Grisham<br />
Calvin Holmes<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Community Loan Fund<br />
Lisa Ladonna Cooper<br />
State Farm<br />
SELECTION PROCESS<br />
JeNyce Boolton<br />
US Bank<br />
Tawa Mitchell<br />
John D. and Catherine T.<br />
MacArthur Foundation<br />
Michelle Morales<br />
Woods Fund <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Louise Powell<br />
John D. and Catherine T.<br />
MacArthur Foundation<br />
Matt Reilein<br />
National Equity Fund<br />
Darnell Shields<br />
Austin Coming Together<br />
Casandra Slade<br />
Wintrust Financial<br />
Joanna Trotter<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Community Trust<br />
A wide variety of dedicated organizations and innovative projects contended<br />
for the <strong>2021</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong>. Teams of volunteer<br />
judges—from the non-profit, public and for-profit sectors—evaluated each<br />
submission against three criteria: effectiveness of the organizational and<br />
developmental process; community impact; project or organizational challenge.<br />
After a series of site visits, judges made recommendations to the <strong>Awards</strong><br />
Committee for final determination.<br />
Jaime Arteaga<br />
LISC<br />
Dena Bell<br />
IFF<br />
Deborah Bennett<br />
Polk Bros. Foundation<br />
Jack Bernard<br />
JPMorgan Chase<br />
Sangini Brahmbhatt<br />
Asian Americans<br />
Advancing Justice<br />
Chris Brown<br />
Southwest Organizing Project<br />
Alexis Chernak<br />
Applegate Thorne-Thomsen<br />
Tameeka Christian<br />
Chandra Christmas-Rouse<br />
Enterprise Community Partners<br />
Lynne Cunningham<br />
Pamela Daniels-Halisi<br />
BMO Harris Bank<br />
Kathleen Day<br />
POAH<br />
Lesly Flores<br />
First Midwest Bank<br />
Elliot Frolichstein-Appel<br />
RBC Capital Markets<br />
Jeanne Gieseke<br />
US Bank<br />
Jake Gross<br />
Byline Bank<br />
Adam Gross<br />
BPI<br />
Danny Gutman<br />
CIBC<br />
Whitney Hill<br />
LCM Architects<br />
Andrew Hugger<br />
Bank of America<br />
Ed Jacob<br />
Tenisha Jones<br />
Westside United<br />
Annie Kraft<br />
Federal Home Loan<br />
Bank <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Mark Kruse<br />
Heartland Housing<br />
Paul Lopez<br />
First Midwest Bank<br />
Robert Macyauski<br />
Fifth Third Bank<br />
Cecilia Marchan<br />
Bellwether Capital<br />
Cynthia Miller<br />
IFF<br />
Ron Milsap<br />
Providence Bank<br />
Tawa Mitchell<br />
John D. and Catherine T.<br />
MacArthur Foundation<br />
Steven Montgomery<br />
LCM Architects<br />
Deborah Moore<br />
<strong>Neighborhood</strong> Housing<br />
Services of <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Michelle Morales<br />
Woods Fund <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Christine Moran<br />
Illinois Housing<br />
<strong>Development</strong> Authority<br />
Mike Newman<br />
Shed Studios<br />
Cheryl Noel<br />
Wrap Architecture<br />
Tiffany Odeh<br />
Associated Bank<br />
Heather Parish<br />
Pierce Family Foundation<br />
Heidy Persaud<br />
Center for <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
Technology<br />
Louise Powell<br />
John D. and Catherine T.<br />
MacArthur Foundation<br />
LaDonna Reed<br />
Associated Bank<br />
Guacolda Reyes<br />
The Resurrection Project<br />
Ravi Ricker<br />
Wrap Architecture<br />
Mary Fran Riley<br />
Allies for Community Business<br />
Claudia Rodriguez<br />
POAH<br />
Adam Rogers<br />
CIBC<br />
Gaby Roman<br />
Devon Bank<br />
Jerry Rotunno<br />
Associated Bank<br />
Teresa Rubio<br />
Associated Bank<br />
Dennis Ryan<br />
Holy Cross Hospital<br />
Trish Sessa<br />
BMO Harris Bank<br />
Erica Spangler Raz<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Lawyers<br />
Committee for Civil Rights<br />
Katrina Van<br />
Valkenburgh<br />
Corporation for<br />
Supportive Housing<br />
Daniel Vega<br />
LCM Architects<br />
Isabel Velez-Diez<br />
Allies for Community Business<br />
Paul Vlamis<br />
JPMorgan Chase<br />
Yvette Warren<br />
Quad Communities<br />
<strong>Development</strong> Corporation<br />
Cheryl Wilson<br />
CIBC
Claretian Associates for<br />
We’re Steel Here! South <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
When U.S. Steel abandoned its South Works<br />
plant, which at one time employed 20,000<br />
people, many feared the South <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
neighborhood it dominated, long a port of<br />
entry and platform for upward mobility, would<br />
be fatally wounded. Yet there were others<br />
who, acknowledging difficult change, saw the<br />
vacant land, the now-underemployed workforce,<br />
and the robust, albeit idle, infrastructure<br />
as assets on which to build for the future.<br />
The result is “We’re Steel Here,” an ambitious<br />
plan for the redevelopment of South <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
as a 21st century community, with diverse<br />
and vital industries, residents and activities.<br />
Specifically, the plan, sponsored by Claretian<br />
Associates, a steady development presence<br />
in the community for decades, calls for nine<br />
inter-connected projects to create needed<br />
housing, recreational space, workforce<br />
development programs, and new commercial<br />
corridors.<br />
Ambitious? Yes, but critical milestones have<br />
already been reached. This spring, the Salud<br />
Center, with its performance venue, gym<br />
and other recreational activity spaces, along<br />
with the renovation of 100 units of existing<br />
affordable apartments will open within the<br />
structure of a long-closed YMCA. Also, on<br />
tap for spring is a New Homes for South<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> program, through which larger single<br />
family homes will be transformed into two<br />
flats, reflecting the changing needs of the<br />
neighborhood.<br />
Salud – which means “to your health” – is<br />
the apt name for a building anchoring the<br />
exciting community-led plan occurring in this<br />
far southside <strong>Chicago</strong> community.<br />
THE<br />
`<br />
CHICAGO<br />
COMMUNITY TRUST<br />
Outstanding Community Plan Award
Esperanza Health Centers<br />
Brighton Park<br />
4700 South California Avenue, Brighton Park<br />
If ever there was a year that highlighted the<br />
importance of affordable, accessible, and<br />
supportive healthcare, 2020 was that year. In<br />
the midst of a year of anxiety and difficulties<br />
for all, on <strong>Chicago</strong>’s Southwest side there was<br />
a bright spot – the opening up of Esperanza<br />
Health Centers Brighton Park.<br />
Esperanza Health Centers was founded in<br />
the Little Village community in 2004 and<br />
today, with three other centers, still serves a<br />
predominantly Spanish-speaking population.<br />
Esperanza leaders recognized that members<br />
of its target population were moving further<br />
south and west, and that a center south of<br />
the I-55 Stevenson Expressway was needed.<br />
Working with award-winning architect Juan<br />
Moreno and his firm JGMA, Esperanza has<br />
transformed both a long-vacant corner at 47th<br />
Street and California Avenue and the lives of<br />
community residents.<br />
The brightly-clad structure conveys both<br />
hope and respect. On the first floor, a brightly<br />
colored entryway leads to the stairway to<br />
well-lit medical offices and private exam<br />
rooms, and to the social services for women<br />
and families provided by Mujeres Latinas en<br />
Accion, and a window-walled hallway leads to<br />
a community kitchen and a generously-sized<br />
meeting room. Outside, emphasizing a<br />
holistic approach to health, a playground and<br />
benches beckon children and adults alike.<br />
Was Esperanza correct in its assessment<br />
of need? The answer is a resounding yes.<br />
Expecting to serve 10,000, the Center received<br />
40,000 visits in this, its inaugural year.<br />
THE RICHARD<br />
`<br />
H.<br />
DRIEHAUS FOUNDATION<br />
Outstanding Non-Profit <strong>Neighborhood</strong> Real Estate Project
The Michaels Organization<br />
and Brinshore <strong>Development</strong><br />
for 4400 Grove<br />
4400 S. Cottage Grove Avenue, Bronzeville<br />
Over the past two decades, and in response<br />
to the challenge of the <strong>Chicago</strong> Housing<br />
Authority’s Plan for Transformation of<br />
public housing, the partnership of Brinshore<br />
<strong>Development</strong> and the Michaels Organization<br />
has unexpectedly but assuredly created<br />
mixed- income/mixed-use developments that<br />
are handsome, well-built and welcomed by<br />
the neighborhood. And no better example of<br />
this record of accomplishment is 4400 Grove.<br />
This 84-unit complex was planned with community<br />
input led by the Quad Communities<br />
<strong>Development</strong> Corporation—or QCDC—which<br />
has led community planning and redevelopment<br />
efforts in the area since the mid-2000s.<br />
The result is a property that surprises, in the<br />
grace of its structure, the artfulness of its<br />
apartments, its innovative landscaping, and to<br />
the delight of neighbors, commercial spaces<br />
on the ground floor of each of the buildings<br />
that are bringing locally-owned community<br />
curated high-quality goods, services and<br />
dining venues.<br />
A $37 million development, it is the kind<br />
of catalytic investment that all communities<br />
need—to signal momentum and increase<br />
business and resident confidence and<br />
optimism.<br />
`The Outstanding For-Profit Real Estate <strong>Development</strong> Award
Firebird Community Arts<br />
for Project FIRE<br />
(Fearless Initiative for Recovery and Empowerment)<br />
It is rare to see the simultaneous transformation<br />
of people and raw materials, but at<br />
Project FIRE, which is devoted to healing the<br />
wounds of traumatized young people, it is<br />
possible.<br />
Since the 1990s, Firebird Community Arts<br />
had been bringing ceramics to South and<br />
West side neighborhoods. By the time the<br />
organization moved to its current location in<br />
East Garfield Park, it was evident that severe<br />
trauma had become a frequent factor in<br />
the lives of many of the young people they<br />
served.<br />
In response, the artists at Firebird Community<br />
Arts collaborated with the professionals at<br />
Helping Hurt People <strong>Chicago</strong> and Cook<br />
County Hospital to create Project FIRE.<br />
What happens there must be seen to be fully<br />
appreciated. Some of the young people,<br />
often diagnosed with one malady or another,<br />
scarred by gunshot wounds, grieving loss of<br />
friends and family, work with clay, others with<br />
glass. Through glass blowing, which perhaps<br />
more than any other art reflects emotion<br />
and creativity, they hone teamwork and<br />
concentration. Amid blazing 10,000-degree<br />
furnaces and kilns, they discover the beauty<br />
they are capable of forging and the beauty in<br />
themselves.<br />
A walk through the studio reveals the stunning<br />
objects the young people have created;<br />
listening to them reveals what real change<br />
is about.<br />
THE BLUE CROSS<br />
`<br />
AND<br />
BLUE SHIELD OF ILLINOIS<br />
Healthy Community Award
Mercy Housing Lakefront for<br />
the Miriam Apartments<br />
4707 N. Malden Street, Uptown<br />
Uptown has always<br />
been a place of<br />
change in the<br />
city—home to an<br />
emerging film industry<br />
in the 20s to a port of<br />
entry for wave after<br />
wave of migrants and<br />
immigrants seeking<br />
affordable dwellings.<br />
For the last half of the<br />
20th century, Uptown<br />
was the city’s most<br />
diverse community.<br />
At the turn of this<br />
century, a threat to this<br />
diversity with a place<br />
for everyone emerged<br />
with new interest in<br />
the well-constructed buildings and the area’s<br />
convenient transportation.<br />
With support from then-alderman and ardent<br />
advocate for diversity, Helen Shiller, Lakefront<br />
SRO, now a part of the preeminent national<br />
supportive housing group, Mercy Housing,<br />
purchased numerous properties in Uptown,<br />
including The Miriam Apartments, to provide<br />
housing for very low-income residents of<br />
Uptown, virtually all of whom have experienced<br />
homelessness.<br />
Although the building was rehabilitated at the<br />
time, after nearly 30 years, renovation and<br />
renewal were needed. With input from the 66<br />
residents, today the Miriam offers 66 fully-redesigned<br />
studio apartments, each with its own<br />
kitchen, bathroom, and heating and air-conditioning,<br />
as well as a spacious and welcoming<br />
lobby. While the entire renovation cost $20<br />
million, residents will pay no more than $167<br />
in rent as a result of federal housing subsidies<br />
that allow these individuals and others like<br />
them to live in areas of their choice.<br />
THE POLK BROS.<br />
`<br />
FOUNDATION<br />
Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award
#CopsOutCPS<br />
Across the nation Summer 2020 brought<br />
anxiety, tragedy, awakening and change. In<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong>, for a group of determined young<br />
people, it brought a long-sought-after<br />
victory—the removal of police officers from<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Public Schools.<br />
Coming from a variety of organizations dedicated<br />
to youth and community empowerment,<br />
they shared a goal of ending the police presence<br />
in their schools and dedicating $33 million<br />
in savings to programs that support youth.<br />
Undaunted by Covid-19, they met on Zoom to<br />
strategize and used social media to organize<br />
demonstrations, fueled by the power of the<br />
issue itself and the national examination of<br />
the role of police in society in the wake of the<br />
murders of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor.<br />
In June, they forced the Board of Education<br />
to consider the issue and lost by a single<br />
vote. When it was announced that individual<br />
schools, not the Board would make the<br />
decisions, #Cops OutCPS changed its tactics<br />
and organized Local School Councils<br />
school-by-school.<br />
The results? By summer’s end, 17 schools had<br />
decided to remove police from their premises;<br />
the Board of Education cut the police<br />
budget in half; and the #CopsOutCPS youth<br />
gave new meaning to the phrase “the power<br />
of community.”<br />
PARTNERS<br />
American Friends Service<br />
Committee<br />
Asian Americans Advancing<br />
Justice- Kinetic Youth Group<br />
Assata’s Daughters<br />
Beyond Legal Aid<br />
Black Lives Matter- <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Brighton Park <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
Council<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Desi Youth Rising<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Freedom School<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Teachers Union- Latinx<br />
Caucus<br />
Hana Center- FYSH Youth Group<br />
Pilsen Alliance<br />
Raise Your Hand Illinois<br />
Southside Together Organizing<br />
for Power<br />
WOODS FUND<br />
`<br />
CHICAGO<br />
Power of Community Award
Greater Chatham Initiative<br />
for 75th Street Boardwalk on<br />
Restaurant Row<br />
Long renowned for its extraordinary<br />
eateries and bakeries and a destination<br />
for <strong>Chicago</strong>ans and visitors alike, the 75th<br />
Street Restaurant Row did not escape the<br />
pandemic’s dip in customers and revenue.<br />
However, with the vigor of the community<br />
leaders led by the Greater Chatham Initiative,<br />
the support of the City and, help from architects<br />
Ernie Wong of Site Design Group and<br />
RaMona Westbrook of Brook Architecture,<br />
the businesses experienced a resurgence of<br />
interest from late summer through the fall with<br />
the creation of the 75th Street Boardwalk on<br />
Restaurant Row.<br />
Working together, the architects and members<br />
of the community created a plan for a<br />
“boardwalk” spanning two blocks along 75th<br />
Street, between Calumet and Indiana Avenues.<br />
With a $250,000 Together Now grant<br />
from the City of <strong>Chicago</strong> and donations from<br />
many others, parking spaces were replaced<br />
by bright green recycled plywood-enclosed<br />
spaces for outdoor eating, playing and<br />
performances.<br />
As a result, already famous destinations such<br />
as Lem’s Bar-B-Q, Original Soul Vegetarian,<br />
Brown Sugar Bakery, Frances Lounge,<br />
Mabe’s Deli, and Margarita’s Pizza as well<br />
as new boutiques were showcased to the<br />
world and the 800 new visitors attracted to a<br />
series of special event days organized by the<br />
Greater Chatham Initiative.<br />
A bold experiment that worked; a model for others<br />
to emulate; and open for business in Summer<br />
<strong>2021</strong>, the 75th Street Boardwalk is a resounding<br />
success. The proof, however, is both in the social<br />
cohesion and the morale of residents. As one<br />
resident stated, “You have to give me a reason<br />
to stay.” The 75th Street Boardwalk is a shining<br />
example of a reason to stay.<br />
THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T.<br />
MACARTHUR FOUNDATION<br />
`<br />
Creative Placemaking Award
THE RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS<br />
FOUNDATION AWARD FOR<br />
ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE<br />
IN COMMUNITY DESIGN<br />
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design<br />
was created, in conjunction with the <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong>, to encourage<br />
development that respects and strengthens the city’s unmatched architectural heritage—especially<br />
in neighborhoods confronting economic and social challenges.<br />
Each year, the award recognizes three developments that are making a significant contribution to<br />
the social, visual and cultural life of their neighborhoods through quality of design.<br />
Mural: Woodlawn Works, Rahmaan Statik and <strong>Chicago</strong> Public Art Group, 2015<br />
SELECTION PROCESS<br />
Based upon the jurists’ site review of finalists selected from all of the applicants received, three<br />
projects were chosen for recognition this year. The jury evaluated each submission according<br />
to established criteria. For consideration, a project must: demonstrate superior quality design;<br />
enhance or serve as an integral part of the comprehensive development of the community; and<br />
exhibit a creative design solution that could become a model for projects in other neighborhoods.<br />
JURY<br />
Tom Beeby<br />
HBRA Architects (retired), Jury Chair<br />
Nootan Bharani<br />
Place Lab at the<br />
University of <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Michelle Boone<br />
The Poetry Foundation<br />
Cynthia Chan Roubik<br />
City of <strong>Chicago</strong> Department of<br />
Planning & <strong>Development</strong><br />
Kevin Harrington<br />
IIT (retired)<br />
Meghan Harte<br />
LISC <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
Angela Hurlock<br />
Claretian Associates<br />
Robert Jank<br />
Northern Trust (retired)<br />
Anne Lazar<br />
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation<br />
Deon Lucas<br />
Hanns Erving<br />
Sarah Pang<br />
The One <strong>Chicago</strong> Fund<br />
Andrea Sáenz<br />
The <strong>Chicago</strong> Community Trust<br />
Richard Sciortino<br />
Brinshore <strong>Development</strong><br />
Linda Searl<br />
Searl Lamaster Howe Architects<br />
Ernie Wong<br />
Site Design Group, Ltd
THIRD PLACE<br />
Canopy/Architecture + Design<br />
for Oso Apartments<br />
3435 W. Montrose Avenue, Albany Park<br />
One of the most diverse communities in <strong>Chicago</strong>,<br />
Albany Park has a multitude of ethnic<br />
restaurants, cultural institutions and places to<br />
shop. The one<br />
thing it does not<br />
have is enough<br />
affordable rental<br />
housing.<br />
To address this<br />
critical shortage,<br />
community leaders<br />
connected<br />
with the Evergreen Real Estate Group, developer<br />
of a number of outstanding properties<br />
in the area. Working together, along with<br />
architect and community leader, Jaime Torres<br />
Carmona of Canopy/Architecture + Design,<br />
they developed a plan for Oso apartments.<br />
Oso offers homes for singles and families.<br />
Its five-story structure, located on Montrose<br />
Avenue with the North Branch of the <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
River as its east and north boundaries,<br />
complements surrounding structures while<br />
distinguishing itself through its vibrant use of<br />
color, materials and art.<br />
Constructed with pre-formed concrete and<br />
steel beams, the handsome building conveys<br />
strength, with bright yellow sunscreens and<br />
Juliet balconies that help heat and cool.<br />
Communicating the relationship between the<br />
building, the residents, the community and<br />
nature is a mural, Community Diligence, by<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> artist Miguel A. Del Real. This unifying<br />
element connects the interior and exterior<br />
lobby gathering spaces and reinforces the<br />
statement about the power of community.<br />
THE RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS<br />
`<br />
FOUNDATION<br />
Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design
SECOND PLACE<br />
HED, JGMA, bKl and<br />
Farr Associates for Lathrop<br />
2000 W. Diversey<br />
Sponsor: <strong>Chicago</strong> Housing Authority (CHA)<br />
Owner: Lathrop Community Partners: a joint<br />
venture of Related Midwest, Heartland Housing,<br />
and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation<br />
Opened in 1938, the Julia C. Lathrop Homes<br />
was one of the <strong>Chicago</strong>’s Housing Authority’s<br />
(CHA) first developments. Its redevelopment as<br />
one of the last projects of the Plan for Transformation<br />
is a testament to its complex process<br />
of renewal for the 21st Century. Learning from<br />
20 years of experience remaking historic<br />
CHA developments, and with the passion and<br />
commitment of Lathrop residents, community<br />
neighbors, housing advocates, and the CHA<br />
and elected officials, the redevelopment of the<br />
Lathrop Homes literally has involved more than<br />
a decade of planning, design, and construction<br />
that all agree was well worth the time and effort.<br />
Responding to the voice of the community as<br />
well as the Related Companies and its partners,<br />
the architects have created a complex that<br />
is beautiful, accessible, and welcoming while<br />
honoring the past and incorporating attributes<br />
and amenities that are right for the future.<br />
With new systems that earned the development<br />
a LEED Silver designation, the team preserved<br />
the architectural elements, the windows, stair<br />
rails, coping, limestone surrounds on exterior<br />
doors, and the paved central courtyard, that<br />
gave the buildings and the property grace and<br />
distinction.<br />
At the six corners of Diversey, Damen and Clybourn,<br />
Lathrop, for years invisible to passers-by<br />
and now a stunning presence, invites renters<br />
of all incomes to its two- and three-bedroom<br />
homes and neighbors to two new businesses<br />
that have opened—a welcome contribution to<br />
the neighborhood and city.<br />
THE RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS<br />
`<br />
FOUNDATION<br />
Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design
FIRST PLACE<br />
STL Architects for the<br />
Williams Park Fieldhouse<br />
South Dearborn Street<br />
Sponsor: <strong>Chicago</strong> Park District<br />
Located in the heart of historic Bronzeville,<br />
the <strong>Chicago</strong> Park District’s Williams Park<br />
Fieldhouse is the newest iconic structure to<br />
grace the neighborhood.<br />
Responding to the desire of residents,<br />
particularly those in the <strong>Chicago</strong> Housing<br />
Authority’s Dearborn Homes who wanted a<br />
structure for their families as distinctive as<br />
those designed for IIT by Mies van der Rohe<br />
and Renzo Piano, STL Architects designed a<br />
spectacular building that, like those on the IIT<br />
campus, is both beautiful and functional.<br />
Outside and adjacent to the structure, there is<br />
a play space that mirrors the community day<br />
and night. Inside the 11,200-square-foot structure,<br />
there is a 3,800 square foot gymnasium,<br />
with spectator seating, two multi-purpose<br />
rooms, and flexible spaces for exhibitions and<br />
events<br />
Using durable materials and building strong<br />
relationships with the community, in the<br />
Williams Park Fieldhouse STL Architects has<br />
created an iconic and sustainable structure.<br />
THE RICHARD H. DRIEHAUS<br />
`<br />
FOUNDATION<br />
Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design
Jason Estremera<br />
Jason Estremera, learned a lot from him<br />
grandfather and his uncles about being an<br />
entrepreneur (since they all were) but it was<br />
his experience as a banker that taught him<br />
why more people weren’t – and what to do<br />
about it.<br />
After growing up in Cleveland Ohio, Jason<br />
began working as a banker, assuming that<br />
would be a great path to help others achieve<br />
their own businesses success. While he<br />
knew that as immigrant entrepreneurs his<br />
family had relied on their own resources to<br />
start their businesses, he was sure that as<br />
a banker he could help more people, more<br />
quickly.<br />
Experience taught him otherwise. He learned<br />
that traditional lending practices ensured that<br />
when it came to equity capital ‘those who<br />
had got more’ while those who had not got<br />
less – or were just turned down and out. ’<br />
He tried to help where he could – meeting<br />
with individual business people, helping them<br />
develop plans and think through options.<br />
“The stories I heard from these folks opened<br />
my eyes to the inequalities and systemic<br />
oppression holding back so many people<br />
from achieving their full potential<br />
With that in mind, after completing his MBA,<br />
Estremera joined the non-profit world, in<br />
2013 becoming the associate director of the<br />
Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic<br />
<strong>Development</strong>. After seven years of experience<br />
helping people start and grow their<br />
businesses, in early 2020 Estremera moved<br />
to <strong>Chicago</strong> to lead the Northwest Side CDC.<br />
Then the pandemic struck, throwing a small<br />
business community already operating on<br />
thin margins into a tailspin, and presenting<br />
the new executive director with the challenge<br />
of a lifetime. Already primed to address the<br />
wealth and opportunity gap that hampers<br />
Black and Brown entrepreneurs and communities,<br />
the pandemic only heightened his<br />
resolve.<br />
Estremera and his team have been working<br />
in the trenches of the pandemic since day<br />
one, helping struggling Latinx-owned small<br />
businesses navigate the economic fallout and<br />
stay afloat during a yearlong – and counting<br />
– quest for survival. Early in the pandemic,<br />
the group helped businesses apply for other<br />
financial assistance, but they and their clients<br />
encountered a slew of obstacles. Among the<br />
challenges: Undocumented businesses were<br />
not eligible, people who lacked technology<br />
skills and access could not apply, and most<br />
application materials were only available in<br />
English. Estremera and the Northwest Side CDC<br />
staff have been able to provide hard-hit small<br />
businesses with rental assistance, financial<br />
counseling and business development training.<br />
A year into the pandemic, as our national<br />
focus shifts from emergency relief to longterm<br />
recovery, the priority now is investing in<br />
resiliency. And as calls for racial equity and<br />
justice continue to dominate the headlines,<br />
the halls of government, and corporate<br />
statements, Estremera is committed leading<br />
for more action for small businesses owners<br />
of color.<br />
“For so many, myself included”,<br />
says Estremera, COVID-19<br />
has reinforced the idea that a<br />
nation will not serve morally or<br />
economically when so few have so<br />
much while so many have so little.”<br />
Emerging Leadership Award<br />
CIBC<br />
`
Cook County Land Bank<br />
Authority<br />
Created by the need to address the large<br />
inventory of vacant residential, industrial and<br />
commercial properties in Cook County, the<br />
Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA)<br />
was created in 2013. Funded almost exclusively<br />
by grants, contributions and revenues<br />
from transaction, the CCLBA is geographically<br />
the nation’s largest land bank, with the<br />
ability to acquire, hold and transfer property<br />
throughout Cook County, including <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
and the many suburban entities.<br />
While its formal powers are extensive, as<br />
important are its powers of acquisition,<br />
holding and transfer to promote the redevelopment,<br />
densification and economic growth<br />
and well-being across neighborhoods, but<br />
particularly in those suffering from decades of<br />
disinvestment<br />
In less than a decade the Authority has<br />
acquired more than 2,000 properties, sold<br />
more than 1,000 and has overseen or been<br />
involved in the restoration of nearly 1,000<br />
throughout <strong>Chicago</strong> and the near suburbs.<br />
Yet while the figures alone are impressive, as<br />
important to the land bank and its founders,<br />
particularly Cook County Board President<br />
Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Board<br />
Commissioner Bridget Gainer, has been<br />
the fundamental reform of the system itself.<br />
For decades the tax and scavenger sales<br />
in Cook County had been complex and<br />
impenetrable by community activists and<br />
would be homeowners or small developers.<br />
While the speculators swooped in to swap<br />
properties, communities were left bereft of<br />
resources, accountable owners - and overrun<br />
with vacant lots.<br />
All that has changed – with the Land Bank<br />
able to step in and acquire properties, small<br />
developers and would-be homeowners<br />
now have the opportunity to obtain sites for<br />
homes and small scale development, building<br />
density and community wealth.<br />
Perhaps no one says it better than DeJuan<br />
Robinson, who completed CCLBA’s 500th<br />
home rehab. “As a proud Chatham native, the<br />
Cook County Land Bank Authority has given<br />
me the opportunity to reinvest in the neighborhood<br />
that gave so much to me. ...CCLBA<br />
makes it easy for small business owners and<br />
community developers like me to build wealth<br />
and keep wealth in our communities.”<br />
For its unending contributions to the well-being<br />
of neighborhoods in the city and suburbs,<br />
the Cook County Land Bank Authority is<br />
the recipient of this year’s Richard M. Daley<br />
Friend of the <strong>Neighborhood</strong> award.<br />
RICHARD M.<br />
`<br />
DALEY<br />
Friend of the <strong>Neighborhood</strong> Award
THE AWARDS ARE MANAGED<br />
BY LISC CHICAGO AND<br />
GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN<br />
BY THE FOLLOWING:<br />
Associated Bank<br />
Bank of America<br />
Brinshore <strong>Development</strong><br />
Federal Home Loan Bank<br />
of <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
First Midwest Bank<br />
National Equity Fund<br />
Robert R. McCormick<br />
Foundation<br />
Wight & Company<br />
MEDIA SPONSOR<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> Community Loan Fund<br />
Community Investment<br />
Corporation<br />
Cubs Charities<br />
Ginsberg Jacobs LLC<br />
Illinois Housing Council<br />
Illinois Housing <strong>Development</strong><br />
Authority<br />
Landon Bone Baker<br />
Lightengale Group<br />
Linn-Mathes, Inc.<br />
McShane Construction Company<br />
Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.<br />
Pierce Family Foundation<br />
Providence Bank & Trust<br />
SB Friedman <strong>Development</strong><br />
Advisors<br />
Seaway & Second Federal,<br />
Divisions of Self-Help FCU<br />
Site Design Group<br />
Southwest Organizing Project<br />
Sterling Bay<br />
Teska Associates<br />
The Community Builders, Inc.<br />
The Michaels Organization<br />
Waterton<br />
`<br />
AWARD UNDERWRITERS
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur<br />
Foundation is proud to support the Creative<br />
Placemaking Award and congratulates the<br />
<strong>2021</strong> awardee 75th Street Boardwalk.<br />
MacArthur invests in people, places, and partnerships to advance<br />
racial equity and build a more inclusive <strong>Chicago</strong>. For over 40 years,<br />
we have invested $1.4 billion in more than 1,600 organizations and<br />
individuals—more than any other place in the world.<br />
www.macfound.org/<strong>Chicago</strong>
<strong>2021</strong> Award Winners<br />
Congratulations<br />
LISC <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
&<br />
on the <strong>27th</strong><br />
anniversary of<br />
the <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
<strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
<strong>Development</strong><br />
<strong>Awards</strong><br />
Proudly Congratulates<br />
Project Fire<br />
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a Division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual<br />
Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association 237165.0319
THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST<br />
CONGRATULATES THE WINNERS OF THE<br />
27 TH CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD<br />
DEVELOPMENT AWARDS!<br />
Thank you for contributing to the vitality<br />
and resilience of our neighborhoods.<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> Award winners, thank you for showing<br />
us that, inside all of us, is the opportunity to grow a stronger community.<br />
State Farm ® proudly supports LISC <strong>Chicago</strong> and the<br />
<strong>27th</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong>.<br />
312.616.8000 | WWW.CCT.ORG<br />
State Farm, Bloomington, IL
© 2019 JPMorgan Chase & Co.<br />
BUILDING STRONGER<br />
COMMUNITIES<br />
At JPMorgan Chase, we are committed to our communities and<br />
work with a diverse group of partners to provide creative and innovative<br />
solutions that respond to community development and affordable<br />
housing needs. These partnerships are essential to making a meaningful<br />
impact on communities, their residents and businesses.<br />
We proudly support LISC <strong>Chicago</strong>.<br />
We are proud to support<br />
<strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
<strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong> and<br />
those working to build a<br />
stronger tomorrow.<br />
At CIBC, giving back is personal. We believe that one<br />
person can make a difference. And that together, we can<br />
create meaningful change. We are One for Change.<br />
The CIBC logo is a registered trademark of CIBC,<br />
used under license, © <strong>2021</strong> CIBC Bank USA
WE’RE PROUD TO SUPPORT<br />
LISC CHICAGO<br />
Enjoy the 27 th <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
<strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong>!<br />
Congratulations to the<br />
student led CopsOutCPS campaign for your<br />
activism to remove School Resource Officers<br />
from <strong>Chicago</strong> Public Schools<br />
Your courageous leadership in the fight for more<br />
investment in student services, and to bring in<br />
restorative and transformative practices into public<br />
schools demonstrates the strength, creativity, and<br />
radical reimagining of youth activism.<br />
Woods Fund <strong>Chicago</strong> would also like to recognize<br />
the other <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Development</strong> Award<br />
recipients and applaud their work in building the<br />
POWER of neighborhoods.<br />
Being <strong>Chicago</strong>’s Bank® means doing our part to give back to the organizations<br />
that unite and strengthen our area. We’re proud to support Local Initiatives<br />
Support Corporation <strong>Chicago</strong> (LISC) and its investment in uplifting and<br />
creating opportunities within our communities.<br />
CHICAGO’S BANK ®<br />
wintrust.com/findus<br />
Woods Fund <strong>Chicago</strong> is a bold grantmaker that draws on the power of communities to<br />
advance racial equity and economic justice in the <strong>Chicago</strong> metropolitan area.<br />
Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks.
Investing<br />
in our<br />
community.<br />
Since 1998, Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen has been a national leader in<br />
formulating legal solutions for the development, ownership and financing of<br />
affordable housing and community development projects.<br />
312.491.4400 ∙ att-law.com<br />
BMO Harris Bank applauds the<br />
great work of LISC <strong>Chicago</strong>.<br />
Since 1998, Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen has been a national leader in<br />
formulating legal solutions for the development, ownership and financing of<br />
affordable housing and community development projects.<br />
312.491.4400 ∙ att-law.com
Help us connect more low-income<br />
families with high-speed Internet.<br />
Thank You CNDA<br />
For 10 years, with the help of our partners,<br />
Internet Essentials from Comcast has<br />
connected millions of families to the life-changing<br />
power of the Internet through low-cost, highspeed<br />
Internet service. With new partners who<br />
share our mission to empower communities,<br />
we can connect even more individuals at home<br />
across the country and help transform lives.<br />
Internet Essentials provides low-cost, high-speed<br />
home Internet for $9.95 per month + tax.<br />
Households may qualify if they are eligible for<br />
public assistance programs. New customers who<br />
apply and are approved by June 30, <strong>2021</strong>, will<br />
receive two free months of Internet service.<br />
Visit InternetEssentials.com/Partner<br />
to learn more and access our partner<br />
resources.<br />
4400 Grove Avenue, <strong>Chicago</strong>, IL<br />
CIE_Partner_Eng_5x3.75 ID #20369.indd 1<br />
5/25/21 6:50 PM<br />
PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE<br />
27 TH ANNUAL<br />
CHICAGO<br />
NEIGHBORHOOD<br />
DEVELOPMENT<br />
AWARDS<br />
We are proud to support LISC <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
and the <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Neighborhood</strong><br />
<strong>Development</strong> <strong>Awards</strong><br />
www.mcshaneconstruction.com<br />
®<br />
FirstMidwest.com
THANK YOU TO<br />
AV <strong>Chicago</strong><br />
ESP Presents<br />
Greensfelder Design<br />
Media Process Group<br />
MK Communications<br />
Rise Strategy Group
Mural: Woodlawn Works, Rahmaan Statik and <strong>Chicago</strong> Public Art Group, 2015<br />
<strong>27th</strong> ANNUAL CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT AWARDS®<br />
C/O LISC CHICAGO, 10 S. RIVERSIDE PLAZA, SUITE 1700, CHICAGO, IL 60606<br />
www.lisc-cnda.org #CNDA27<br />
@liscchicago @lisc_chicago<br />
facebook.com/liscchicago