LUCHA SRO

Affordable housing was and is still needed in this West Town/Humboldt Park neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, particularly for single adults and elderly people wanting to remain in the neighborhood, as well as formerly homeless people. The LUCHA SRO was specifically conceived to target and address this need. LUCHA SRO apartments has not only provided housing for the target population, it is also an important addition to a neighborhood that has been slow to redevelop.

The prominent location of the building on a southwest corner of the intersection of a major commercial and residential street allows the ground floor to offer community space, direct access to the building's courtyard, and rental commercial space on the corner. The developer was able to acquire the lot directly west of the building, which has been developed into a community garden green space, also accessible from the courtyard.

When this project was conceived, the only SRO housing available in Chicago was in older, corridor type buildings that generally had small efficiency units with very small kitchenettes, if any, and a shared bathroom located down the hall. The architect rejected the bath down the hall, opting instead to have a bath shared between two units (90% of units) and to give each tenant their own safe and usable kitchen. Though many current SRO's now have private baths, the architect believed that the cost efficiencies and potential socialization would be worth the possible problems. The architect reported, however, that, in fact, there have been no problems; even the dreaded locking in or out of the bathroom proved to be an unwarranted worry.

As is the case in many affordable housing initiatives, this development took five years of struggle to realize. Of course the neighbors didn't want it and forced a site change to another neighborhood that didn't want it. Finally an enlightened alderman put himself on the line and made an impassioned speech that convinced the area residents that this building was appropriate and important for their neighborhood.


Source: Design Matters: Best Practices in Affordable Housing, City Design Center at the University of Chicago.