High vacancies in dense South Shore leave renters vulnerable

South Shore residents “have a narrow window of opportunity” to steer the neighborhood in a direction that preserves affordability and chances to become a local homeowner.

The South Shore Housing Data Project, compiled by South Shore Community Compact researchers, found opportunities to do so could disappear quickly with the area’s real estate market striding at a new pace, Block Club Chicago reported.

The two-year study of the housing landscape in South Shore found that renters make up a majority of the population and that condos and co-ops in the area are poised to be snatched up by investors due to long-standing financial and mechanical issues.

More specifically, South Shore has the most renters using Housing Choice vouchers and would face the largest number of evictions in the city.

“Given its large population living below the poverty line and cost-burdened renters, South Shore is acutely vulnerable during times of household financial instability or economic downturn, as marked by the community’s high eviction rate,” the report said. The 2019 eviction rate in South Shore was 8.7 percent, triple the citywide rate of 2.9 percent.

While there’s a dense collection of buildings in the area, there is still a high vacancy rate for South Shore, which has likely been exacerbated by a 2020 policy that offers tax relief to property owners with vacant storefronts, encouraging them to keep the space empty, the study found. Owners of 85 percent of 73 vacant properties in the neighborhood live outside South Shore.

With so many economic developments and community planning initiatives underway in the South Shore — most notably the Obama Presidential Library as well as the $47.3 million Thrive Exchange development that will bring dozens of apartments and condos to 79th Street and Exchange Avenue — residents “have a narrow window of opportunity to take an active role in overseeing plans for the future,” the study found.

“There’s this intentional investment being made in South Shore,” Tammy McCann-Simpkins, housing and Micro Market Recovery Program coordinator for the Neighborhood Network Alliance, told the outlet. “It’s important that we the constituents have a say in how those resources are being used, and that the powers that be not only know how we feel, but adhere to our feelings and our requests.”

The study is being presented at a housing fair event Saturday that runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at South Shore International College Prep High School, 1955 East 75th Street.

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