Brinshore Lists Huge Chicago Affordable Housing Portfolio

Brinshore Development is shopping one of the largest affordable housing portfolios Chicago has seen in years, a move set to reshuffle ownership across some of the city’s most prominent mixed-income communities.

The developer put 2,435 Chicago units on the market last week, according to a listing from Berkadia, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The asking price wasn’t disclosed.

The package spans 20 properties and includes 695 public housing units tied to the Chicago Housing Authority. All but one of the sites are CHA partnerships, underscoring how deeply Brinshore has been embedded in the agency’s rebuilding efforts since the early 2000s.

Brinshore is one of the CHA’s most prolific collaborators, helping carry out the housing authority’s Plan for Transformation — the sweeping, often delayed promise to replace aging high-rises with modern mixed-income communities.

The firm, founded in 1994 by Richard Sciortino and David Brint, ranks as the nation’s 16th-largest affordable housing developer, with roughly 12,000 units across 16 states. Its Chicago holdings include some of the most visible examples of the city’s redevelopment ambitions.

The sale comes as Brinshore continues to build.

In July, the firm and longtime partner the Michaels Organization started construction on another phase of Legends South — the decades-long overhaul of the former Robert Taylor Homes site in Bronzeville. That latest stage features 52 units, mixing affordable and market-rate housing along with commercial space. Earlier phases at Legends South, already completed, are included in the offering now on the market.

Brinshore is also wrapping the final phase of its redevelopment at the CHA’s Horner-Westhaven site on the Near West Side, with a ribbon cutting for Westhaven Park Station scheduled this week. That property is part of the sale as well, signaling that the portfolio includes some of the most mature chapters of the CHA partnership.

The listing marks a significant moment for Chicago’s affordable housing landscape. Bulk trades of stabilized mixed-income properties are rare, and the buyer pool is typically thin, given regulatory layers and long-term affordability covenants. But the size and location of Brinshore’s package could draw national interest.

— Eric Weilbacher