Obama Center construction raising concerns about gentrification in South Shore

The development of the Obama Presidential Center has been billed as a catalyst for revitalizing the Jackson Park area and the South Shore neighborhood, though housing advocates say they’re worried it will also lead to gentrification and rising home prices in the area.

Advocates for affordable housing are seeking rent protections to ensure current tenants can stay, according to Crain’s Chicago.

The $830 million Obama Presidential Center and Library has long been billed as a transformational project, specifically for the South Shore neighborhood and the area around Jackson Park. Approved by the city in 2018, the OPC then had to undergo a three-year federal review. Construction began in September 2021. It is set to open in 2025.

The OPC will sit within the park along Stony Island Avenue, just south of the Museum of Science and Industry.

Designed by architects Todd Williams and Billie Tsien, the OPC includes a museum, a winter garden, community plaza, a Chicago Public Library branch, a women’s garden, a park and community activity center and a children’s play area.

Investors looking to profit off the redevelopment fear any new rent protections would stall the neighborhood’s growth. Alderman Leslie Hairston of the 5th District, said he believes one of the advocates calling for tenant protections plans to run against her in the 2023 election, according to Crain’s.

The CBA coalition is asking the city to approve requirements for landlords and developers in the neighborhood including a requirement that developers make 60% of new units affordable for people earning 30% of the area’s median income, and caps on various fees paid by tenants.

South Shore is not seeing the more serious gentrification other parts of town have had, thorough there are signs it’s coming. The requests by CBA are similar to other legislation passed to protect residents in other areas of Chicago, according to Crain’s. In places like Pilson and the areas around the 606 Trail the city approved development requirements that are meant to prevent resident displacement.

Since the plans for the OPC were announced in 2015, the median price of a single-family home in South Shore has jumped 150% to $186,000. That’s quadruple the rate of increase for homes citywide.

[Crain’s Chicago] — Miranda Davis