New Article: This Land Was Promised for Housing. Instead It’s Going to a Pro Soccer Team Owned by a Billionaire.

New Article: Mick Dumke, This Land Was Promised for Housing. Instead It’s Going to a Pro Soccer Team Owned by a Billionaire, ProPublica (2022). Excerpt below:

When thousands of families were forced to move out of the ABLA Homes public housing complex two decades ago, Chicago and federal leaders promised they would be able to come back to new housing and a revitalized community on the city’s Near West Side.

Most of the residential buildings at ABLA would be demolished. But, officials said, thousands of new homes for both poor and more affluent families would be built to replace them. The pledge was part of a 10-year plan to “transform” public housing citywide and offer a model to other cities.

Now, after building less than a third of the promised new units, officials are moving with unusual urgency to redevelop the largest plot of empty land at ABLA — but not for housing. Instead, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Housing Authority are planning to lease the land for decades to a professional sports team owned by a local billionaire.