City Offers More Than 350 Lots and Development Sites for Private Purchase

April 1, 2024

More than 350 parcels of surplus City land are available for purchase and redevelopment through the City of Chicago’s ChiBlockBuilder application portal starting at 10 a.m. on April 1, Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright announced today.

The available lots may be used as side yards for adjacent neighbors, community open spaces, housing construction, and industrial and commercial development projects. Each of location has an established market value and most are shovel-ready.

ChiBlockBuilder includes an interactive map of available properties, pricing information, and a digital submission process that provides for efficient purchases through quitclaim deeds. Select sites include:

  • Oakwood Boulevard & Lake Park Avenue, Oakland
    Six clustered properties totaling 4.6 acres is available for mixed housing types and densities, along with complementary retail, dining, and hospitality-oriented uses at ground level. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend an April 30 pre-submission webinar. Register for the webinar here.
  •  2301 E. 75th St., South Shore
    Transit-served, 32,250-square-foot property is available for retail or mixed-use construction.
  • 4512 S. Halsted St. and 1924 W. 46th St., New City
    Square-shaped, 6.9- and 8.2-acre sites are available for business-related construction projects that support the ongoing viability of the Stockyards Industrial Corridor.
  • 7801-47 S. Halsted St., Auburn Gresham
    Transit-served, 1.1-acre property with nearly one block of arterial frontage is available for retail or mixed-use construction.
  • 449-51 E. 47th St., Grand Boulevard
    Transit-served, 26,066-square-foot lot is available for retail or mixed-use development.
  • 3151-57 W. Ogden Ave., North Lawndale 
    Transit-served, 18,429-square-foot lot is available for retail or mixed-use development.
  • 6537 S. Union Ave., Englewood
    Transit-served, 1.1-acre site is available for mixed-use development with a community preference for residential uses catering to residents with special needs and an on-site medical clinic.

Available properties also include 145 lots that are being made available to developers of single-family homes and two-flats through the Department of Housing’s City Lots for Working Families (CL4WF) program. Through the program, eight to 20 City-owned lots with a maximum appraised value of $125,000 can be conveyed per developer for each project. Homes must be made available to qualified buyers with incomes up to 140 percent of area median income.

Applications will be accepted for 45 or 90 days, depending on the location. Priority consideration will be given to adjacent property owners and applicants proposing to build new housing or other improvements that benefit the neighborhood.

The available lots are among approximately 9,500 owned by the City, most of which were acquired through foreclosures and demolition liens dating as far back as the 1950s. The City has sold approximately 2,000 vacant lots in the last 10 years as part of a coordinated effort to return surplus land to private ownership, including three previous ChiBlockBuilder application rounds.

For more information, visit Chicago.gov/BlockBuilder.

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