After years of sitting dark and empty, the old Loretto Academy in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood is being lined up for a new life as housing. Developers are pushing a plan to convert the early 1900s former all-girls Catholic school into a mix of affordable and market-rate rental apartments, pitched as a way to help longtime residents stay put. The proposal will get its first public airing Monday evening at a community meeting with developers and 5th Ward Ald. Desmon Yancy.
What developers are proposing
Greenline Communities and 5T Development Partners want to create roughly 55 apartments inside the former school, according to Block Club Chicago. That reporting says the project, branded as the Lofts at Loretto Academy, would include four studios, 40 one bedrooms, and 11 two bedrooms. The units are described as a mix of affordable and market-rate rentals aimed at current and long-term Woodlawn residents rather than newcomers looking to cash in on nearby development.
Public meeting and next steps
Developers and Ald. Desmon Yancy is set to host a public meeting at Da Book Joint starting at 5 p.m. Monday, according to CBS Chicago. They say the renovation is meant to promote community stability and guard against displacement, though they have not yet released detailed rules on how tenants would be selected or how affordability levels would be locked in. Da Book Joint is a South Side bookstore that opened a physical storefront at 6900 S. Stony Island in 2023, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Historic building and preservation concerns
Loretto Academy is an early 20th-century neighborhood landmark. Preservation Chicago lists the complex as completed in 1905 with a 1927 addition and placed it on the group's 2019 "Most Endangered" list. Preservation advocates and other local reporting have documented years of vacancy, deferred maintenance, and a 2019 foreclosure auction, raising tough questions about how extensive the restoration work will need to be. Public media coverage has also stressed the building's architectural significance and the need for a careful rehab, with WTTW providing additional background on the endangered list and Loretto's condition.
Why neighbors will be watching
Developers are framing the Lofts at Loretto Academy as an anti-displacement effort, but neighbors typically want more than good intentions. Community advocates often push for binding affordability requirements, clear tenant protections, and transparent rules on who gets first crack at new apartments, especially in neighborhoods facing development pressure. The city has already approved Woodlawn-specific measures and loan funds meant to limit displacement related to nearby projects, and observers say those policies will be the key context for this conversion. CBS Chicago has outlined those earlier protections and funding programs.
What happens next
Monday's public meeting is the first formal step for residents to see renderings, ask questions, and voice support or concerns. Developers are expected to walk through a more detailed project timeline and financing plan at that session. Any actual construction will still depend on securing funding, clearing city review,s and landing any needed preservation or zoning approvals, a process that could stretch out over many months before Loretto Academy officially gets its second act as housing.
