CSIM
Vacancy Opportunity Index

Englewood — Vacancy-to-Revitalization

Edition 8 / 9 · ZIP 60621 · As of July 22, 2026

Edition geography: ZIP 60621 (primarily Englewood). ZIP and community-area boundaries do not align exactly.

Scale of the challenge

3,828
Tracked vacant properties
40%
Ownership unverified
311-reported vacant buildings, not yet parcel-matched
60%
City / Public controlled

All tracked sites intersect at least one incentive geography

Site map — clustered tracked vacancies

Distress

Showing 2,000 of 3,828

Numbered discs are the 12 featured sites in the site index below.

Vacancy Sources, Ownership, and Control

01 What is being counted

(a)City-inventory vacant-land parcelsCity-Owned Land Server (COLS)2,287
(b)311-reported vacant-building sitesService requests — ownership not attached1,541
(c)Assessor-classed vacant-land parcelsCook County Assessor vacant-land classification2,971

Sources (a) and (b) together form the 3,828-record operational tracking list — the properties a corridor manager actively works. That list is not the complete vacant-land universe. The land universe reconciles the two land sources, (a) and (c), below.

Tracked list by owner type (COLS + 311)

Corporate / LLC
0
Out-of-State Investor
0
Local Private
0
City / Public
2,287
Unknown
1,541

Tracked list — land vs. building

2,287 vacant land (60%)1,541 reported buildings (311) (40%)

02 How the land sources overlap

City-inventory vacant-land parcels2,287
+Assessor-classed vacant-land parcels2,971
Parcels counted in both sources (City PIN matches)389
Unique land parcels (deduplicated union)4,869
  • 389 City PIN matches — parcels present in both land sources.
  • 1,898 City-inventory parcels outside the Assessor’s vacant-land classification (city land is mostly tax-exempt).
  • 2,582 Assessor parcels not found in the City inventory.

03 Who controls the vacant land

Ownership across the 4,869 unique land parcels above — the single “who controls” claim.

Corporate / LLC
449
Out-of-State Investor
306
Local Private
1,713
City / Public
2,289
Unknown
112
Total
4,869

City / Public = City-inventory parcels plus additional public parcels identified through assessor taxpayer records. Private and unknown counts are the reconciled taxpayer-of-record classifications over the same land universe. Raw taxpayer records alone would show City/Public 2.

03b Owner structure × geography

The same assessor vacant-land parcels, cross-tabulated by owner structure (from the taxpayer name) and geography (from the taxpayer mailing address).

StructureIn-stateOut-of-stateUnknownTotal
Entity585400625
Individual1,71010701,817
Trust190019
Government39700397
Unresolved11300113
Total2,82414702,971

Geography is the taxpayer mailing address’s state, not a claim about where an owner physically resides. Structure is inferred from public taxpayer-of-record name patterns.

04 Vacant buildings requiring verification

1,541311-reported vacant-building sitesOwnership unverified

These are service-request sites, not owner-verified holdings — they are not “privately held.” An exact land-plus-building total should not be published until these sites are parcel-matched and deduplicated against the land universe above.

Tax-sale records on file2,010 parcels · latest 2015Vacant-building violations216 tracked sites

04b Exemption anomalies — records for review

Record anomalies warranting official review. A vacant land parcel cannot serve as a principal residence; these pairings are records discrepancies for the Assessor, Treasurer, and Clerk to adjudicate — no wrongdoing is asserted.

3
Impossible on its face
Occupancy exemption on vacant LAND (class 1xx)
0 senior / freeze3 no transfer ≥10y
156
Plausible but stale
Occupancy exemption on a vacant BUILDING
42 senior / freeze156 no transfer ≥10y

Exemption tax year 2024 · land exempt EAV ~30,000 (order of magnitude)

Coverage: every count is a floor. Unmatched 311 building rows carry no parcel and are invisible here; MyDec transfer records only reach back to roughly 2009, so a “no transfer” flag is a floor, not proof of no sale; and exemption data lags to tax year 2024. Parcel-level detail is held in the admin-only referral packet below.

05 What this means for action

Public land parcels2,289Disposition · RFP · CCLBA coordination · land assembly
Known private land parcels2,468Owner outreach and development partnerships
Unknown land parcels112Ownership and title verification
Reported buildings1,541Parcel matching · ownership verification · active-status confirmation

Revitalization cannot depend on one acquisition strategy. It requires public-land disposition, local-owner partnerships, absentee-owner outreach, and targeted ownership verification.

Ownership → action pathways

Owner classAction pathway
City / PublicDisposition inquiry · CCLBA coordination · RFP · land assembly
Local PrivateDirect outreach · technical assistance · sale or development partnership
Corporate / LLCPortfolio-level outreach · identify decision-maker · negotiate assembly
Out-of-State InvestorTargeted outreach · acquisition interest · tax/code review
UnknownTitle and taxpayer verification before outreach
Tax-sale record on fileLegal review · tax-sale monitoring · acquisition pathway assessment

Where coordinated intervention is possible

Coordinated intervention

12 clusters
1119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 78 publicly controlled and 41 requiring verification.

78 land · 41 buildings20 tax-sale6 violations
2119 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 93 publicly controlled and 26 requiring verification.

93 land · 26 buildings7 tax-sale2 violations
3119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 72 publicly controlled and 47 requiring verification.

72 land · 47 buildings22 tax-sale9 violations
4119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 82 publicly controlled and 37 requiring verification.

82 land · 37 buildings11 tax-sale9 violations
5119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 102 publicly controlled and 17 requiring verification.

102 land · 17 buildings6 tax-sale5 violations
6119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 56 publicly controlled and 63 requiring verification.

56 land · 63 buildings26 tax-sale9 violations
7119 sites

This cluster contains 119 vacant properties: 91 publicly controlled and 28 requiring verification.

91 land · 28 buildings9 tax-sale
8118 sites

This cluster contains 118 vacant properties: 49 publicly controlled and 69 requiring verification.

49 land · 69 buildings30 tax-sale18 violations
9118 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 118 vacant properties: 84 publicly controlled and 34 requiring verification.

84 land · 34 buildings17 tax-sale7 violations
10118 sites

This cluster contains 118 vacant properties: 81 publicly controlled and 37 requiring verification.

81 land · 37 buildings19 tax-sale6 violations
1160 sites

This cluster contains 60 vacant properties: 28 publicly controlled and 32 requiring verification.

28 land · 32 buildings16 tax-sale8 violations
1260 sites

This cluster contains 60 vacant properties: 17 publicly controlled and 43 requiring verification.

17 land · 43 buildings10 tax-sale11 violations

Proximity clusters: tracked sites within ~100 m linked; contiguous areas larger than ~500 m are divided into sub-areas for intervention planning; minimum five sites. Boundaries are analytical, not parcel-contiguous.

Site index — featured sites

#AddressOwner typeTypeZoningSq ftNext stepVerify
1914 W 63RD STCity / PublicENTVacant LandPD 154671,386City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
26221 S SANGAMON STCity / PublicENTVacant LandC1-233,898City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
3501 W 64TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-420,832City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
4901 W 63RD STCity / PublicENTVacant LandPD 113112,697City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
5505 W 65TH PLCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-411,908City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
6505 W 65TH PLCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-411,908City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
76606 S NORMAL BLVDCity / PublicENTVacant LandRT-411,401City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
86217 S HALSTED STCity / PublicINDVacant LandPD 56010,540City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
9425 W MARQUETTE RDCity / PublicENTVacant LandRT-424,613City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
105943 S LOWE AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandM1-217,378City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
117127 S PARNELL AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-416,910City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
125912 S LOWE AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandRS-315,146City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
426 W NORMAL PKWY NORTHCity / PublicUNRVacant LandRT-410,869City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
7402 S VINCENNES AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandC1-212,750City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
6844 S MAY STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-318,687City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗

+ 3,813 additional sites in the directory below

Nine-edition comparison

EditionTracked VacantVacancy RateLocal OwnershipBuilding ShareCity-Owned Share
South Chicago60617
2,167
6%
62%
60%
40%
Chatham60619
1,829
6%
83%
78%
22%
South Shore60649
693
4%
77%
82%
18%
West Garfield Park60624
2,785
16%
79%
52%
48%
North Lawndale60623
2,513
9%
88%
52%
48%
Austin60644
1,539
9%
86%
60%
40%
Humboldt Park60651
954
4%
90%
76%
24%
Englewood60621
3,828
24%
78%
40%
60%
West Englewood60636
3,085
19%
83%
55%
45%

Dot ratings rank the nine pilot editions against each other (quintiles). They are not citywide scores or grades.

Site directory — every tracked address

90-day corridor action agenda

  1. 01Select 2–3 priority clusters
  2. 02Disposition conversations for public sites
  3. 03Outreach list for local + corporate owners
  4. 04Verify unknown / outdated records
  5. 05Match clusters with uses / developers / incentives
  6. 06Track identified → contacted → verified → assembled → activated
Englewood carries 3,828 tracked vacant properties. 2,287 are City- or public-controlled and can move toward disposition without owner outreach; the remaining 1,541 carry unverified ownership (311-reported buildings) and start with parcel matching and ownership verification. Every tracked site sits inside at least one incentive geography, so the location already qualifies for programs before any conversation begins. Revitalization here is not a single deal — it is public-land disposition, local-owner partnerships, absentee-owner outreach, and records verification, run cluster by cluster.

Download the anonymized PDF edition — owner types only, no names. Safe to share with partners.

Dot ratings rank the nine pilot editions against each other (quintiles). They are not citywide scores or grades.

Sources
  • Chicago City-Owned Land Inventory (aksk-kvfp) + 311 Vacant/Abandoned Building Complaints (v6vf-nfxy)
  • Cook County Assessor parcels (classified owner type; complete vacant-land universe)
  • Explorer corridor-metrics citywide export (vacancy rate, local ownership, incentive coverage)
  • Chicago ZIP Code boundaries (unjd-c2ca)
  • Chicago transportation network (expressways + rail)

Informational screening only. Owner type is inferred from public taxpayer-of-record patterns and is anonymized — no owner names or mailing addresses appear here. Records indicate; verify current ownership, eligibility, timing, and approval requirements with the administering organization before relying.