After many years of disinvestment, North Lawndale is once again a community that is getting a closer look by developers and investors. There are a number of incentives that are available to them, including TIF funds, free or deeply discounted land, tax reductions, tax credits, etc.
One school of thought suggests that North Lawndale residents should be happy that businesses decide to locate here, or that developers decide to build houses here. While this is good for business and helps improve the tax base, there is very little evidence that North Lawndale residents benefit directly–even in instances where local property taxes are being used to subsidize the development. There must be a way for developers and investors to make money while providing real opportunities to local residents and business owners.
We will host a a panel discussion on community benefits agreements (CBA’s) on November 9, 2016, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm at a location to be determined. The panel, the members of which are still being confirmed, will include an attorney, developer and community activists from North Lawndale and other communities around the city of Chicago who will share their successes and challenges with negotiating legally-binding community benefits agreements. This meeting is being sponsored by our Economic Development, Infrastructure and Transportation subcomittees.
For further information, contact Audrey Dunford, Vice Chair of the Infrastructure Subcommittee at audrey.dunford@gmail.com.
North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council 
Hola: We would Like to be kept informed regarding the meeting discussed above. We are a NFP looking for property to buy in either North or South Lawndale. The following is an outline about our plans. Buy property, convert a portion of it into a bookstore, community center and classroom. The classrooms will be used to hold Spanish and English conversational classes, among others. The community center will be used by the community to hold meeting anywhere from meetings by Transgender persons to families suffering from domestic abuse. We will employ people who are living in the communities of North and South Lawndale, giving preference to persons who are exoffender and/or of the LGBTQ community. We are investigating working with the NFP Investment in Community and the Cook County Land Bank, also the banks we have approached are community banks, we are trying very hard not to work with any of the big four who were responsible for the economic situation we are in. Looking forward to hearing from you and finding out more of how we can work to strengthen North Lawndale and bring a better understanding and connection to South Lawndale. EL TECHNO COLIBRI eltechnocolibri@yahoo.com Guadalupe M. Avery Avila 773-573-3376We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever. // Pedimos justicia, pedimos igualdad, pedimos que todos los derechos civiles y politicos que son de los ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos sean garantisados siempre a nosotros y nuestras hijas. —Susan B. Anthony, Declaration of Rights for Women, July 1876
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Thanks, Guadalupe! It’s great to hear from you. Here is a link to our membership application. https://nlcccplanning.org/home-3/join-nlccc/ If you have not done so, please complete the application to be added to our membership roster. We will be posting updates on the meeting on this blog. Subscribers to the blog will automatically get updates emailed to them. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to our newsletter at here We will send meeting notices to our newsletter subscribers as well.
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