CSIM
Vacancy Opportunity Index

West Englewood — Vacancy-to-Revitalization

Edition 9 / 9 · ZIP 60636 · As of August 13, 2026

Edition geography: ZIP 60636 (primarily West Englewood). ZIP and community-area boundaries do not align exactly.

Scale of the challenge

3,091
Tracked vacant properties
55%
Ownership unverified
311-reported vacant buildings, not yet parcel-matched
45%
City / Public controlled

All tracked sites intersect at least one incentive geography

Site map — clustered tracked vacancies

Showing 2,000 of 3,091

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)1,401
(b)311-reported vacant-building sitesService requests — ownership not attached1,690
(c)Assessor-classed vacant-land parcelsCook County Assessor vacant-land classification2,899

Sources (a) and (b) together form the 3,091-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
1,401
Unknown
1,690

Tracked list — land vs. building

1,401 vacant land (45%)1,690 reported buildings (311) (55%)

02 How the land sources overlap

City-inventory vacant-land parcels1,401
+Assessor-classed vacant-land parcels2,899
Parcels counted in both sources (City PIN matches)225
Unique land parcels (deduplicated union)4,075
  • 225 City PIN matches — parcels present in both land sources.
  • 1,176 City-inventory parcels outside the Assessor’s vacant-land classification (city land is mostly tax-exempt).
  • 2,674 Assessor parcels not found in the City inventory.

03 Who controls the vacant land

Ownership across the 4,075 unique land parcels above — the single “who controls” claim.

Corporate / LLC
398
Out-of-State Investor
312
Local Private
1,830
City / Public
1,405
Unknown
130
Total
4,075

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 4.

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
Entity476370513
Individual1,9118801,999
Trust134017
Government23510236
Unresolved13400134
Total2,76913002,899

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

1,690311-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 / delinquencyNot yet availableCode-violation densityNot yet available

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.

Exemption anomaliesNot yet available

05 What this means for action

Public land parcels1,405Disposition · RFP · CCLBA coordination · land assembly
Known private land parcels2,540Owner outreach and development partnerships
Unknown land parcels130Ownership and title verification
Reported buildings1,690Parcel 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
192 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 32 publicly controlled and 60 requiring verification.

32 land · 60 buildings
292 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 67 publicly controlled and 25 requiring verification.

67 land · 25 buildings
392 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 49 publicly controlled and 43 requiring verification.

49 land · 43 buildings
492 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 64 publicly controlled and 28 requiring verification.

64 land · 28 buildings
592 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 59 publicly controlled and 33 requiring verification.

59 land · 33 buildings
692 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 48 publicly controlled and 44 requiring verification.

48 land · 44 buildings
792 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 65 publicly controlled and 27 requiring verification.

65 land · 27 buildings
892 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 52 publicly controlled and 40 requiring verification.

52 land · 40 buildings
992 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 40 publicly controlled and 52 requiring verification.

40 land · 52 buildings
1092 sites

This cluster contains 92 vacant properties: 30 publicly controlled and 62 requiring verification.

30 land · 62 buildings
1191 sites

This cluster contains 91 vacant properties: 42 publicly controlled and 49 requiring verification.

42 land · 49 buildings
1291 sites

Englewood corridor: This cluster contains 91 vacant properties: 60 publicly controlled and 31 requiring verification.

60 land · 31 buildings

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
16908 S RACINE AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandB1-113,787City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
25820 S DAMEN AVECity / PublicGOVVacant LandRM-537,893City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
36401 S BELL AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandM1-254,847City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
41247 W GARFIELD BLVDCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-411,214City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
51243 W 69TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandRS-36,206City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
65705 S ASHLAND AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandC2-25,472City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
71639 W 69TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-37,196City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
85614 S RACINE AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandB1-16,313City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
91300 W 57TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-36,066City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
101335 W GARFIELD BLVDCity / PublicENTVacant LandRT-46,018City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
115659 S JUSTINE STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-35,854City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
126601 S PAULINA STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-35,523City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
1759 W GARFIELD BLVDCity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-47,366City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
7338 S WOOD STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-26,255City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
6556 S HONORE STCity / PublicINDVacant LandRS-35,249City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗

+ 3,076 additional sites in the directory below

Nine-edition comparison

EditionTracked VacantVacancy RateLocal OwnershipBuilding ShareCity-Owned Share
South Chicago60617
2,177
6%
62%
60%
40%
Chatham60619
1,850
6%
83%
78%
22%
South Shore60649
706
4%
77%
83%
17%
West Garfield Park60624
2,786
16%
79%
52%
48%
North Lawndale60623
2,518
9%
88%
52%
48%
Austin60644
1,546
9%
86%
61%
39%
Humboldt Park60651
956
4%
90%
76%
24%
Englewood60621
3,835
24%
78%
40%
60%
West Englewood60636
3,091
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
West Englewood carries 3,091 tracked vacant properties. 1,401 are City- or public-controlled and can move toward disposition without owner outreach; the remaining 1,690 carry unverified ownership (311-reported buildings) and start with parcel matching and ownership verification. 3,091 tracked site points intersect at least one boundary in the Explorer dataset (revision 2026-08-13). Use those overlaps to prioritize programs for review; they do not establish eligibility, current intake, or an award. 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; confirm current ownership, program requirements, timing, and approval steps with the administering organization before relying.