A group of urban activists have taken to federal court, facing down the Chicago Housing Authority and a federal agency in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the CHA from transferring 24 acres for a new soccer stadium for the Chicago Fire in a gentrifying area on the Near West Side.
The Chicago Housing Initiative, Coalition to Protect Chicago Housing Authority Land and Lugenia Burs Hope Center signed on to a new lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the CHA on June 1 in Chicago federal court.
In the lawsuit, the activists claim a planned transfer of the land from the CHA to the Chicago Fire, which has been approved by HUD, will harm the community, and particularly the low-income residents of the region they argue the CHA is bound to house and protect. According to the complaint, the land had been set aside for CHA residents, but was being given to the owner of the Chicago Fire soccer team, for the purpose of developing a multi-million dollar project to include a new soccer stadium and sports training complex.
They argue the project will further gentrify the area, making it more difficult for those requiring affordable housing to remain in the neighborhood.
Gentrifying, a common practice within urban communities through which new developments and renovations boost property values in typically poor urban areas, is a controversial topic in urban planning and politics. Critics say the process results in the displacement of established low income communities - typically those populated by Black or Latino residents - through the influx of more affluent residents to newly revitalized areas.
In the lawsuit, the activists are seeking a court order to block CHA from transferring the land to the Chicago Fire.
The land, referenced in the complaint as the ABLA (an acronym for Addams, Brooks, Loomis, and Abbott), allegedly includes 3,596 units allegedly held in public trust for affordable public housing in multiple CHA housing projects on the Near West Side bounded by Roosevelt Road, Ashland Ave, 14th Street and Loomis Street. They assert the land is subject to a Declaration of Trust which restricts its use to public and affordable housing.
The activists assert that if an injunction fails and CHA is given permission to transfer those lands to Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto to lease valuable land, they allegedly do so at the expense and adverse impact of the existing and future residents.
Activists assert this area qualifies as a Community Preservation Area, which means it is already experiencing or is at high risk of experiencing displacement of low-income residents. The activists assert more than 30,000 people are waiting for homes from the CHA on a site that's gone undeveloped for two decades.
Activists further assert and allege that CHA’s application and HUD’s approval were completed in violation of federal civil rights law and the agencies' own protocols. They allege HUD failed to conduct a civil rights review before authorizing and approving the disposition of this land. The activists also point out in the suit that the disposition of the ABLA Land is part of a pattern and practice by CHA.
Plaintiffs are seeking an immediate restraining order, an injunction preventing CHA from taking any further action on the site, and compensatory damages, court costs and attorney fees.
Plaintiffs in the case are represented by attorneys Daniel R. Campbell and Emilie E. O’Toole, of McDermott, Will & Emery, of Chicago; Aneel L. Chablani, Emily J. Coffey, Micaela L. Alvarez, and MacKenzie F. Speer of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, of Chicago; John Bouman and Lawrence Wood, of Legal Action Chicago; and Katherine E. Walz, of the National Housing Law Project, of San Francisco.