CSIM
Vacancy Opportunity Index

South Shore — Vacancy-to-Revitalization

Edition 3 / 9 · ZIP 60649 · As of August 13, 2026

Edition geography: ZIP 60649 (primarily South Shore). ZIP and community-area boundaries do not align exactly.

Scale of the challenge

706
Tracked vacant properties
83%
Ownership unverified
311-reported vacant buildings, not yet parcel-matched
17%
City / Public controlled

All tracked sites intersect at least one incentive geography

Site map — clustered tracked vacancies

Showing all 706 sites

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)122
(b)311-reported vacant-building sitesService requests — ownership not attached584
(c)Assessor-classed vacant-land parcelsCook County Assessor vacant-land classification366

Sources (a) and (b) together form the 706-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
122
Unknown
584

Tracked list — land vs. building

122 vacant land (17%)584 reported buildings (311) (83%)

02 How the land sources overlap

City-inventory vacant-land parcels122
+Assessor-classed vacant-land parcels366
Parcels counted in both sources (City PIN matches)15
Unique land parcels (deduplicated union)473
  • 15 City PIN matches — parcels present in both land sources.
  • 107 City-inventory parcels outside the Assessor’s vacant-land classification (city land is mostly tax-exempt).
  • 351 Assessor parcels not found in the City inventory.

03 Who controls the vacant land

Ownership across the 473 unique land parcels above — the single “who controls” claim.

Corporate / LLC
76
Out-of-State Investor
61
Local Private
205
City / Public
122
Unknown
9
Total
473

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 0.

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
Entity100150115
Individual214120226
Trust1001
Government150015
Unresolved9009
Total339270366

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

584311-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 parcels122Disposition · RFP · CCLBA coordination · land assembly
Known private land parcels342Owner outreach and development partnerships
Unknown land parcels9Ownership and title verification
Reported buildings584Parcel 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
141 sites

This cluster contains 41 vacant properties: 2 publicly controlled and 39 requiring verification.

2 land · 39 buildings
241 sites

South Shore CCSA Corridor corridor: This cluster contains 41 vacant properties: 7 publicly controlled and 34 requiring verification.

7 land · 34 buildings
321 sites

Calumet Hts/Avalon corridor: This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 2 publicly controlled and 19 requiring verification.

2 land · 19 buildings
421 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 6 publicly controlled and 15 requiring verification.

6 land · 15 buildings
521 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 1 publicly controlled and 20 requiring verification.

1 land · 20 buildings
621 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 6 publicly controlled and 15 requiring verification.

6 land · 15 buildings
721 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 2 publicly controlled and 19 requiring verification.

2 land · 19 buildings
821 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 5 publicly controlled and 16 requiring verification.

5 land · 16 buildings
921 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 6 publicly controlled and 15 requiring verification.

6 land · 15 buildings
1021 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 4 publicly controlled and 17 requiring verification.

4 land · 17 buildings
1121 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 2 publicly controlled and 19 requiring verification.

2 land · 19 buildings
1221 sites

This cluster contains 21 vacant properties: 3 publicly controlled and 18 requiring verification.

3 land · 18 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
12605 E 75TH STCity / PublicINDVacant LandB3-213,652City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
27600 S COLFAX AVECity / PublicENTVacant LandRT-410,846City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
32440 E 75TH STCity / PublicENTVacant LandB3-210,702City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
42445 E 75TH STCity / PublicENTVacant LandB3-210,248City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
57117 S EUCLID AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRT-410,720City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
61744 E 75TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandC1-29,375City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
77619 S KINGSTON AVECity / PublicGOVVacant LandRT-47,471City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
86717 S CLYDE AVECity / PublicINDVacant LandRM-56,636City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
97619 S PAXTON AVECity / PublicUNRVacant LandRS-25,040City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
102212 E 68TH STCity / PublicENTVacant LandRM-59,685City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
111668 E 71ST STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandC2-20City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
127038 S PAXTON AVECity / PublicGOVVacant LandRM-50City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
2524 E 79TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandB3-20City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
2826 E 79TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandB3-20City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗
2828 E 79TH STCity / PublicGOVVacant LandB3-20City/CCLBA disposition inquiryCookViewer ↗ · Clerk ↗

+ 691 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
South Shore carries 706 tracked vacant properties. 122 are City- or public-controlled and can move toward disposition without owner outreach; the remaining 584 carry unverified ownership (311-reported buildings) and start with parcel matching and ownership verification. 706 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.