CHICAGO —Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Ald. Monique Scott and Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright joined developer Citizens Building a Better Community in North Lawndale to cut the ribbon on the first completed project under the Johnson administration’s Missing Middle housing initiative, welcoming 14 new homes to the community while marking a major milestone in the City’s efforts to transform vacant land into new housing and expand opportunities for homeownership.
“Today marks a major milestone for our Missing Middle initiative as we celebrate the first project welcoming new residents to our communities,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson.“In just 10 months, we have gone from breaking ground here in North Lawndale to delivering new, high-quality homes that will give Chicagoans the opportunity to put down roots and build wealth in our city.
This is only the beginning.
My administration will continue to think boldly and invest boldly as we turn vacant land into housing and deliver the homes our communities need and deserve.”
Located on the 1400 and 1500 blocks of S Trumball Ave. and S Homan Ave., the newly completed two-flat projects were led by CBBC with the support of a $5.4 million Missing Middle investment funded by Mayor Johnson’s $1.25B Housing and Economic Development Bond.
The investment brings 14 new homes to previously vacant City-owned land.
The milestone comes just 10 months after the CBBC projectbroke groundin January 2026.
Launched by DPD in October 2024, the initiative provides land and up to $150,000 per unit in construction assistance for developers selected through a Request for Proposals process, with five RFPs issued to date.
At least one unit in each building must be sold to an owner-occupant to support the initiative’s community wealth-building goals.
“Missing Middle is priming the pump for additional private investment by creating ownership opportunities for buyers, putting City land back on the tax rolls, adding density and supporting population growth that is synonymous with all neighborhoods of choice,” saidDPD Commissioner Boatright.
Missing Middle is at the center of Johnson administration’s strategy to repopulate historically underserved neighborhoods throughout Chicago by leveraging vacant City land and HED financing to facilitate construction of contemporary, medium-density housing that has become “missing” from South and West Side communities following decades of disinvestment.
The program provides both City-owned lots for $1 and HED funds to empower minority-owned developers to create homes with purchase prices that are commensurate with market rates.
Including the CBBC project, 204 Missing Middle homes valued at $68.8 million are underway across the West Side, with 165 units valued at $69.6 million moving forward across the South and Southwest Sides.
As Chicagoans have ranked housing affordability as theirtop concern, the Johnson administration has put the construction of a larger, more diverse housing stock and thousands of new affordable homes at the center of its strategy to make Chicago more affordable for working people.
The most recent RFP, issued this month for 16 lots in Humboldt Park, is expected to create approximately 60 units. RFP responses are due by Monday, Nov. 16.
More information about the program and selected projects is available atChicago.gov/MissingMiddle.