Twenty-five years ago John McDermott and Robert Lucas were allies in the movement for open housing and civil rights in Chicago. Now they’re on opposite sides of a heated battle over an abandoned 33-unit apartment building at 4910 S. Blackstone.
The four-story apartment building (once known as the Hotel Riviera) is across the street from Hyde Park’s public library. It became a flophouse years ago and was finally boarded up in the late 1970s.
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In 1987 the county made the building available as part of its tax-reactivation program, through which vacated properties are sold for $1 to not-for-profit community groups. “The purpose of the tax-reactivation plan is to put property back on the tax rolls and encourage low-income development,” says Lucas. “The county forgives the tax debt on property and gives its deed to a not-for-profit developer. There’s only one hitch: from the day you get the deed you have two years to start construction. If your project is not ready to go after that, you lose the deed.”
But 30 days dragged into four months without a word from the city. Finally, in July, KOCO met with Michael Schubert, commissioner of the housing department. “Mr. Schubert told us that we had met all the requirements for the program,” says Lucas. “He said it would go to the City Council in a few days–the council has to approve these kinds of loans. And then almost as an afterthought, Schubert said, ‘There’s a guy named John McDermott who’s complaining about the building. Go meet with him.’ I said, ‘Mr. Schubert, I will gladly meet with John, but I want to know: will the outcome of that meeting have any bearing on your decision?’
Still, the committee members were troubled by KOCO’s track record. Kenwood is really two different communities. The neighborhood south of 47th Street is integrated and financially stable; north of 47th Street lies one of the south side’s poorest slums. For the most part, KOCO has won praise for its efforts north of 47th. Across the street, however, it’s a different story. One building the organization managed fell apart for lack of repairs and was eventually demolished; another KOCO-managed building is now in housing court.
Within a few months it was apparent that their efforts were working. Schubert, Lucas noted, no longer responded to KOCO’s phone calls or letters. Word had it that Frank Kruesi, a Kenwood resident and key mayoral adviser, had turned Mayor Daley against the project. For whatever reason, the city was not responding to KOCO’s pleas for financial assistance, and time was ticking away. KOCO had to start construction by May 8 or lose its deed. On May 8 Schubert sent Lucas a letter saying that the city would not fund the project.
At least two dozen residents–blacks as well as whites–answered Gills. “That’s a smear,” said McDermott. “We are not an evil, racist community. We are a good community. We have a lot of subsidized housing. Kenwood is one of the only integrated communities in the city. We appeal to KOCO to go back to the drawing board and come back with a better plan. If you can’t do that, get out of the way and let some other developer in who can do a better job.”
