PULLMAN — Nearly three dozen historic Pullman homes that have sat vacant for decades are now being restored as part of a collaboration that includes the city and county.
The effort to restore the homes got a boost in July when the City Council approved a $900,000 grant. The project is a joint effort between the city, the Cook County Land Bank, the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives nonprofit and a private developer.
The homes are in the 10500 block of South Corliss Avenue, the 10600 block of South Champlain Avenue and 10700 block of South Langley Avenue. Once complete, they will be sold to people or families earning 80-120 percent of the area median income.
They’re expected to sell for $125,000-$150,000 each, according to Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, a nonprofit which works to coordinate resources and bring development projects to under-resourced neighborhoods.
On Saturday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) and others will speak at a picnic near the site to celebrate the start of the project.
The row houses, the last unoccupied historic homes in North Pullman, will maintain their exteriors, which were built as worker housing for George Pullman’s railroad company. Their interiors will be completely rehabbed, with new furnaces, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical and appliances.
The homes were originally bought by the Cook County Land Bank and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.
Five of the homes will be renovated and sold by Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, while the rest will be bought, rehabbed and sold by Michael Olszewki, of Area Wide Realty.
Last year, after City Council approved the $900,000 grant, Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara said the project is a way to preserve the homes and get them into the hands of first-time homeowners.
“Built more than 100 years ago but left to languish in the late 1990s, like Pullman itself, the housing has ‘good bones,’ is sturdy and ready to meet the housing needs of this century’s occupants,” Novara said in a statement.
With the rehab of these homes, more than 70 historic Pullman homes will have been restored in the past six years.
The homes will be within walking distance of the Pullman National Monument site and other amenities in the neighborhood, such as the One Eleven Food Hall at 756 E. 111th St.
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