The Home Front

(Above) Aerial view looking north from Jackson Park toward the Chicago skyline, showcasing the Woodlawn and South Shore neighborhoods. (Photo: Adobe Stock) By Don DeBat With the Obama Presidential Center approaching, a new anti-gentrification ordinance is rattling the real estate industry, pitting landlord rights against city efforts to prevent displacement in Chicago’s lakefront neighborhoods. The threat of rising apartment rents in “Obamaville” and other South Side lakefron

By Don DeBat Renters hunting for an affordable apartment in a nice North Side Chicago neighborhood this spring may be in for some sticker shock. Between February of 2025 and February of 2026, Chicago’s median rental prices rose more than many other major cities, according to a national survey by Axios Media, Inc. The survey is based on new leases signed each month in 54 metro areas with at least one million residents. Chicago’s median apartment rent rose 4% to $1,670 a month

(Above) The former Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church. Photo: @properties Christie’s International Real Estate / Compass. BY DON DEBAT In the heart of what was once the nation’s most infamous public housing project, a 137-year-old church is being gutted for $1.4 million condos – anchoring a luxury transition that developers are rebranding as ‘Gold Coast West.’ The Near North Side neighborhood once infamously known as the Cabrini-Green public housing “ghetto” is at a cr

Photo by Ralf Kleemann As property tax bills hit Chicago landlords with increases of up to 31.7 percent, renters can expect significant rent hikes next spring. By Don DeBat Rental apartment dwellers and landlords both are beginning to realize that the city of Chicago, Cook County, state of Illinois, and the federal government are not their friends. After months of uncertainty and delay, Cook County officials on November 14 finally mailed the second installment of 2024 propert

Apartment hunters in downtown Chicago may encounter sharply higher rents next spring due to a significant drop in new rental unit...

(Above) 2017 photo of a flooded Chicago Riverwalk. As recent monsoon-like rains inundate neighborhoods, Chicago homeowners are grappling...

(Above) Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi (left in photo) and Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes. Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is...

(Above) Driver Shane van Gisbergen competes in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Grant Park on July 6 (AP Photo/Erin Hooley). Residents and...

(Above) Dining/Great Room of an Airbnb in Old Town. Interior photos by Andrew Charles Miller. (Click on images to view larger versions.)...

A conflict is brewing between landlords and tenants in Chicago’s North Side apartment rental market over non-refundable move-in fees. A...