Is one condo conversion at 64th Street and Stewart Avenue a sign of things to come for Englewood? WBEZ thinks Beth Vorwaller’s condos warrant a report, although the reporter herself seems a little confused as to whether the development really “another symbol of the South Side neighborhood’s attempt to turn the tide on a history of disinvestment and housing woes,” as her introductory paragraph suggests. (The story left us wondering whether it was really Englewood’s first conversion, too, but that’s a different story.)
This building Vorwaller purchased for this project had sat vacant for two years after the bank foreclosed on it. The city gave Vorwaller some tax incentives to build, and the units range from $135,000 to $215,000 for a duplex.
VOLWALLER: “The condo living style is better, especially if you’re a dual-income family or a single mom with kids. And it’s kind of who we’re marketing to.”
None of the condos have sold signs in the window. The housing market has been tough on Englewood. According to policy think tank the Woodstock Institute, there are 68 foreclosures per 1,000 properties. Subprime lending has marred the neighborhood. Large retail shopping is scarce.
But things are turning. Last year a new Kennedy-King College opened on Halsted Street. It’s one of the obvious signs of growth in the stigmatized Englewood. Rodney Walker is executive director of the neighborhood reform group Teamwork Englewood. Walker says the new condo building is not a curtain-raiser to gentrification.
WALKER: “I think if it was several buildings, then I would kind of get that feel. But this is such a small-scale project that you really don’t get the sense that the neighborhood is going to change rapidly.”
Duplexes in the $210s, folks! Are you ready for a reinvigorated Englewood?