Twenty-three housing units for student athletes will be constructed in Washington Park through a City-owned land sale approved by City Council today.

The $10.8 million project by Center Court Development LLC will include a trio of two-unit buildings on the 5400 block of South Dearborn Street and 17 townhomes on South Federal Street, where elite tennis players, their families, and support staff will reside while training and working at XS Tennis Village, a state-of-the-art athletic complex in Washington Park.

Players, families, and staff will use the homes throughout the year to attend tennis camps, tournaments, and other activities at the adjacent, 27-court complex. Four of the development's units will be rented at affordable rates.

Consisting of six parcels totaling 1.1 acres, the City land will be sold for its appraised value of $302,000.

Center Court Development is operated by Kamau Murray of the XS Tennis and Education Foundation (XTEF), which constructed XS Tennis Village with $2.9 million in City support in 2018 as a training center for approximately 3,000 youths per year. XSTEF has since sent 47 youth to Division 1 schools with tennis scholarships.

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