CSIM
Vacancy Opportunity Index

North Lawndale — Vacancy-to-Revitalization

Edition 5 / 9 · ZIP 60623 · As of July 22, 2026

Also covers South Lawndale (Little Village)

Edition geography: ZIP 60623 (primarily North Lawndale). ZIP and community-area boundaries do not align exactly.

Scale of the challenge

2,513
Tracked vacant properties
52%
Ownership unverified
311-reported vacant buildings, not yet parcel-matched
48%
City / Public controlled

All tracked sites intersect at least one incentive geography

Site map — clustered tracked vacancies

Distress

Showing 2,000 of 2,513

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)1,205
(b)311-reported vacant-building sitesService requests — ownership not attached1,308
(c)Assessor-classed vacant-land parcelsCook County Assessor vacant-land classification1,471

Sources (a) and (b) together form the 2,513-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
1,205
Unknown
1,308

Tracked list — land vs. building

1,205 vacant land (48%)1,308 reported buildings (311) (52%)

02 How the land sources overlap

City-inventory vacant-land parcels1,205
+Assessor-classed vacant-land parcels1,471
Parcels counted in both sources (City PIN matches)226
Unique land parcels (deduplicated union)2,450
  • 226 City PIN matches — parcels present in both land sources.
  • 979 City-inventory parcels outside the Assessor’s vacant-land classification (city land is mostly tax-exempt).
  • 1,245 Assessor parcels not found in the City inventory.

03 Who controls the vacant land

Ownership across the 2,450 unique land parcels above — the single “who controls” claim.

Corporate / LLC
183
Out-of-State Investor
129
Local Private
884
City / Public
1,206
Unknown
48
Total
2,450

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 1.

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
Entity255100265
Individual886370923
Trust6006
Government22720229
Unresolved480048
Total1,4224901,471

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

1,308311-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 file762 parcels · latest 2015Vacant-building violations117 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.

4
Impossible on its face
Occupancy exemption on vacant LAND (class 1xx)
0 senior / freeze4 no transfer ≥10y
199
Plausible but stale
Occupancy exemption on a vacant BUILDING
58 senior / freeze199 no transfer ≥10y

Exemption tax year 2024 · land exempt EAV ~40,000 (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 parcels1,206Disposition · RFP · CCLBA coordination · land assembly
Known private land parcels1,196Owner outreach and development partnerships
Unknown land parcels48Ownership and title verification
Reported buildings1,308Parcel 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
174 sites

This cluster contains 74 vacant properties: 49 publicly controlled and 25 requiring verification.

49 land · 25 buildings8 tax-sale1 violations
273 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 51 publicly controlled and 22 requiring verification.

51 land · 22 buildings9 tax-sale2 violations
373 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 46 publicly controlled and 27 requiring verification.

46 land · 27 buildings7 tax-sale2 violations
473 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 36 publicly controlled and 37 requiring verification.

36 land · 37 buildings17 tax-sale3 violations
573 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 50 publicly controlled and 23 requiring verification.

50 land · 23 buildings9 tax-sale
673 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 45 publicly controlled and 28 requiring verification.

45 land · 28 buildings9 tax-sale2 violations
773 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 29 publicly controlled and 44 requiring verification.

29 land · 44 buildings25 tax-sale3 violations
873 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 31 publicly controlled and 42 requiring verification.

31 land · 42 buildings10 tax-sale5 violations
973 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 41 publicly controlled and 32 requiring verification.

41 land · 32 buildings14 tax-sale
1073 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 40 publicly controlled and 33 requiring verification.

40 land · 33 buildings9 tax-sale1 violations
1173 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 51 publicly controlled and 22 requiring verification.

51 land · 22 buildings8 tax-sale1 violations
1273 sites

This cluster contains 73 vacant properties: 31 publicly controlled and 42 requiring verification.

31 land · 42 buildings20 tax-sale5 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
11247 S KILBOURN AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandM2-352,359City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
23800 W 16TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandPD 114613,287City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
31630 S KEELER AVECity / PublicGOVVacant LandRS-3103,335City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
44314 W 19TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandRS-329,261City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
51251 S KEELER AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandRT-412,600City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
63249 S KEDZIE AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandM3-3112,374City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
71925 S HARDING AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-412,667City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
83800 W 16TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandPD 11469,532City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
91318 S KILBOURN AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandM3-38,982City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
101256 S KILBOURN AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandM2-37,971City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
111329 S INDEPENDENCE BLVDCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-49,590City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
124321 W ROOSEVELT RDCity / PublicGOVVacant LandC1-29,075City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
1213 S INDEPENDENCE BLVDCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-48,625City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
2104 S TRUMBULL AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-47,773City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
1440 S KOLIN AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-47,541City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗

+ 2,498 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
North Lawndale carries 2,513 tracked vacant properties. 1,205 are City- or public-controlled and can move toward disposition without owner outreach; the remaining 1,308 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.