July 2004

To: Alderman Helen Shiller, 46th Ward, City of Chicago
RE: Development of Wilson Yard

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For Our Community

Since you shared the Wilson Yard Development site plan with the community in February 2004, many of your constituents have taken time to analyze your plan and its long-term impact on our community.

Your proposal which includes land on the east side of the L, north of Montrose and South of Wilson to Broadway (Wilson Yard). The undersigned agree with your inclusion of retail space, movie theaters and parking to be included in this development.

The proposal also contains a housing component which includes a mid-rise for low-income senior citizens, and a second 90-unit, mid-rise made up of two and three bedroom units for families making 60\% or less of the medium income.

Further, youve described the maximum income levels for households of the second building as $31,700 for a single person and $59,700 for a household of up to eight. There would be no established minimum income levels as this minimum level would be determined by the leasing agent.

This housing plan runs contrary to all other new subsidized housing developments across the city, which follow balanced housing guidelines that include defined mixed-income percentages, low-rise buildings and green space for raising families.

We, the undersigned, as constituents of your ward and various interested parties urge you to reconsider the housing component in your plan. We base this request on the following:

Wilson Yard and the immediate surrounding area is already a high poverty census tract area: The area incorporating Wilson Yard is located in census tracts 315 and 316. According to the information located at www.chicagoareahousing.org, more than 40\% of the combined population of those census tracts lives below the poverty level, making those tracts High Poverty as defined by Chicagos Department of Housing. For that reason alone, more residents at that socio-economic level should not be concentrated in that area.

The original Wilson Yard goals established through numerous charettes and surveys included the component of mixed-income housing. This original goal has been ignored with the current Wilson Yard housing composed only of low-income rental housing. Furthermore this development will not displace any housing. Contrary to popular belief, rental housing in the Wilson Yard census tracts has actually increased by 516 units over the past ten years (as documented by the Chicago area housing website). So adding more low-income rental housing in an area with more than 87\% rental housing shows a complete lack of smart urban planning.

HUD is no longer endorsing high-density housing for poverty-level residents: The construction of two towers of subsidized rental housing runs counter to every development of similar housing in Chicago. As you know, the current approach in Chicago is to create sustainable, subsidized housing which includes mixed-income, low-density, low-rise residential properties, with a portion of the housing sold or rented at market rates and a portion of the housing sold or rented at subsidized rates. The current preliminary proposal for Wilson Yard flies in the face of this sound and logical approach.

Community enrichment: Two towers of subsidized housing in Wilson Yard completely oppose the original Wilson Yard Redevelopment Goals & Objectives, to create a cohesive, mixed-use, mixed-income community. This type of housing does not support the creation of a coherent arts and entertainment district in Uptown, which would be a positive addition to the entire community. The current proposed housing plan also serves a segment of the population in Uptown that is already well-served, with more than 30\% of the housing in the Wilson Yard census tracts being subsidized for low- or no-income individuals, not including the numerous shelters throughout Uptown. In contrast, no such effort has been made to serve Uptowns remarkable artistic community.

We are extremely disappointed in your inclusion of this housing component into the Wilson Yard development. During the planning phase of this project, the community requested that IF housing was included in this development, it would be market rate home ownership with an affordable ownership component. You have completely ignored this request.

We DO NOT want YOU to go forward with the housing that has been proposed in YOUR development plan of Wilson Yard. This type of housing will have a long-term negative impact on our entire community and will NOT help poverty-level individuals and families lead stable, safe and meaningful lives.

cc: Richard M. Daley
Sheila OGrady
Mary Richardson-Lowry
Lois Weisberg
Denise Casalino
John Markowski
Peter Holsten
Uptown Chicago Commission