The little hamlet of Hamlin Park is looking lively these days and it’s about to get even more so, with the Chicago Housing Authority’s recent announcement that it plans to revelop its public housing development, Lathrop Homes, into a 1,200-unit mixed-income community. Lathrop is located on the kind of land that developers and homebuyers salivate over, a parcel that’s bounded by the river, Damen Avenue and Clybourn Avenue.
Lathrop tenants fear the worst, but the CHA is insisting that the units will be divided into equal parts public, affordable and market-rate housing, and that all the original Lathrop tenants can come back once construction is finished.
The neighborhood is already feeling the effects of the gentrification that has occurred in Roscoe Village and North Center. Hamlin Park Neighbors, a local community group, tells Yo it just hopes that the new community will be integrated with the broader neighborhood. The group is in talks with the city about creating public green space out of some of Lathrop’s riverfront land.