Reclaiming Chicago, a coalition of community developers and organizers, has landed the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s $10 million Chicago Prize, giving a major jolt to one of the city’s biggest community-led homebuilding pushes on the South and West sides. The award will launch a large-lot strategy in Chicago Lawn that organizers say could produce roughly 125 for-sale homes, then recycle the proceeds into a revolving fund to bankroll more projects in Roseland, Back of the Yards, and North Lawndale. Coalition leaders say the goal is to build lasting paths to homeownership and kick-start activity on nearby commercial corridors, not just put up a few new roofs and call it a day.
According to the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, the prize will help Reclaiming Chicago, which is convened through United Power for Action and Justice, buy a roughly 17-acre parcel at West 74th Street and South Talman Avenue in Chicago Lawn and shore up an existing loan pool for new-home construction. The foundation says most of the first-phase homes are expected to be affordable to families earning between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income, part of a plan to add density and create long-term, owner-occupied blocks.
How the prize will be used
The coalition plans to drop the grant into a broader financing stack that mixes subsidies, loans, and policy changes to drive down per-unit costs, according to reporting by The Real Deal. That reporting puts the revolving fund at about $42 million and estimates construction costs at roughly $400,000 to $450,000 per home. Target sale prices are pegged at about $260,000 to $280,000 for single-family houses and around $390,000 for two-flats. The idea is straightforward: sell the homes, then send the proceeds back into the fund so the model can repeat in other neighborhoods.
Neighborhood context: Auburn Gresham and beyond
Organizers say they will focus early construction where it can spark life on nearby business strips. The 74th and Talman site is set to be co-developed by the Southwest Organizing Project and The Resurrection Project and is expected to include roughly 125 single-family homes and two-flats. Local reporting has tracked roughly $180 million in investment in the Auburn Gresham corridor since 2019, plus a 58-unit affordable apartment development on 79th Street. Those neighborhood details were reported by the Chicago Sun-Times and Block Club Chicago.
Organizers frame the prize as a proof of concept
Foundation leaders say the award is meant to prove that community-led builders can deliver affordable homeownership at scale, not just scatter a few pilot homes. “We are thrilled to support a dynamic coalition that is investing in a large-lot strategy to deliver 125 new affordable homes, something Chicago has not seen in generations,” Bryan Traubert, chair of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, said in a statement through the foundation. Organizers say the model links construction with buyer education and modest subsidies so new owners are better positioned to hold onto their homes and build equity over time.
What comes next
Organizers told local outlets they expect the land purchase to close by the second quarter of 2026. The coalition has agreed to start construction within 18 months and to finish at least 100 homes within five years of the award. Those timing and completion benchmarks were reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. If the approach holds up, organizers say proceeds from the Chicago Lawn sales will be rolled into more for-sale homes across the South and West sides, turning this first batch of houses into a citywide pipeline.
