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Chicago Public Schools has identified buyers for three former school properties on the South and West Sides, two of whom are planning to build new housing and a third who wants to open a community center.
The district is seeking the Chicago Board of Education’s approval at its next meeting on Dec. 18 to sell the old Bontemps Elementary in Englewood on the South Side for $75,000, the old Henson Elementary in North Lawndale on the West Side for $25,000, and the former Shedd Elementary, which last served as a satellite building for Bennett Elementary, in Roseland on the Far South Side for $25,000. All three buildings closed in 2013.
The proposed sales come after CPS put 20 properties on the market in May. Stephen Stults, the district’s director of real estate, said they got bids for 12 properties.
Chicago’s struggle to repurpose dozens of vacant school properties has taken more than a decade. The district has made multiple past attempts to sell them and many either had no buyers or pending deals fall through. CPS spends roughly $75,000 to $150,000 annually to maintain each vacant property, Stults said.
“We really want to put these buildings back to productive use,” Stults said. “The longer they sit there, the more they deteriorate, the harder it is to redevelop them, and the less value that we can get for them.”
School board member Michilla Blaise urged CPS officials to lean on the 21 board members elected and appointed to represent their communities to help get the old schools repurposed.
“We all have community contacts. We all have organizations that might be helpful to you. And we can also reach out to elected officials in the area,” Blaise said. “CPS is in the business of educating students, not necessarily being a landlord to derelict properties. So I understand the impetus to want to unload these properties … but we have to move thoughtfully.”
The potential buyer for the old Shedd Elementary building at 99th and Indiana Ave. is the Peace for Preston Foundation, led by Dionne Mhoon, the mother of slain Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston. Two years ago, Mhoon launched a GoFundMe to support the foundation and raise money for a community center in honor of her daughter. Mhoon’s bid for the old Shedd school is $25,000.
Elected school board member Carlos Rivas said Wednesday he was Preston’s college counselor in the 2015-16 school when he worked at Noble’s UIC College Prep.
“She was such a determined young lady and graduated from Illinois State in three and a half years because of her determination,” Rivas said. “She had such a bright life ahead of her, and she did so much for her community.”
“I am so incredibly proud that we’re going to be honoring her and using this building in this way for the peace for Preston foundation,” Rivas added.
There was some interest in the old Shedd school in 2017 from a private Christian school and another buyer, but neither bid had the backing of the local alderperson, according to South Side Weekly.
The board resolution says Peace for Preston wants to offer youth recreational programming, educational programming, youth mentoring and counseling, mental health support, job readiness and vocational training, wellness programs, and access to health care support, as well as GED and financial literacy courses.
Both buyers for Henson and Bontemps want to demolish the old schools and construct new housing.
In the case of Henson, buyer Melvin Bailey of MKB Business Strategies told Chalkbeat that he plans to build about 27 single family or two-flat homes on the property.
At least one other shuttered CPS school property is now home to dozens of single family homes. A developer bought the old King Elementary in 2017 in Tri-Taylor and built 30 homes that came on the market in 2020.
MKB’s $25,000 bid was not the lowest received. There was another for $30,000 from Calling Water LLC. Stults said the community meeting was contentious and both proposals had supporters, but Bailey’s plan for redevelopment had the support of the local alderperson, Monique Scott.
In May 2018, the Board of Education approved a bid for Henson’s property from the Single Room Housing Assistance Corporation, which offered $55,000. The group put forward a plan to convert the school into 80 mini-studio apartments for low-income people, including veterans, single mothers, and people with disabilities. The sale never closed.
Devereaux Peters, a former WNBA player turned affordable housing developer, is offering $75,000 to purchase the Bontemps school in Englewood. According to the board resolution, the plan is to demolish the school and build two affordable housing buildings. One would have 72 units with various amenities, including a fitness center and coworking space. The second building would have 60 units for seniors “who wish to downsize while remaining in the community.”
Stults said the current Bontemps structure has no working plumbing, electric, or mechanical systems. He said there was a community meeting in October and the local alderman, Stephanie Coleman, supports the project.
In 2017, the school board approved a $50,000 bid for Bontemps from IFF, a nonprofit lender and developer based in Chicago. But like Henson, that sale never went through.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
