CITY HALL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel cheered some 300 people buying Englewood vacant lots for a dollar Friday at City Hall, and announced the program would be expanded to Austin.
The Large Lots program allows a homeowner to buy up to two properties on the same block for $1 apiece — vacant lots that typically were turned over to the city through property-tax delinquency or demolition liens.
"We're taking vacant lots and turning them into vibrant neighborhoods," Emanuel told Englewood residents buying lots Friday. "This is one of those little ideas that has many, many flowers growing. Some people are opening businesses, some people are building houses, some people are doing gardens. The good news is, they won't be littered with trash anymore."
Englewood resident Sheila Wilson said Friday it was completing a process in which she had already taken care of the vacant lot next door to her home. "It used to be filled with a lot of trash, garbage," Wilson said. She'd used the additional space for weddings for families, "but then I gave a luau for the whole neighborhood."
And after Friday's sale the property was to be legally hers.
Friday's sale completed a process begun in the spring with Englewood residents registering to claim the vacant lots for a dollar. According to the mayor's office, more than 400 people applied for the approximately 4,000 lots available in the neighborhood, and the City Council ultimately approved the sale of 322.
Some 320 residents subsequently applied for 410 lots made available in East Garfield Park, with a sale to follow, and on Friday the city announced 250 lots would be put up for sale in Austin, with the deadline to apply set at Jan. 29.
Friday's sale was the first in the Large Lots program.
"Welcome to being our first guinea pigs," Emanuel told buyers at City Hall. "We all thought we would have to persuade people. And you guys were all pepped up just ready and waiting for this, and congratulations for your persistence."
Applicants must own a home on the same block as the property they're trying to buy, and must be current on property taxes, with no outstanding debt to the city, such as outstanding parking tickets or water bills. Properties are sold “as is” via a quit-claim deed.
Austin applicants can apply online or directly by delivering applications to Room 905 at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. Call 312-744-0363 for more details.
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