The Chicago Housing Authority has released its final blueprint for redeveloping the last of the land once occupied by Cabrini-Green, calling for approximately 4,100 mixed-income homes spread across 43 acres and 16 former public-housing sites on the Near North Side. The framework, known as Cabrini NOW, divides that land into four distinct zones — Rowhomes, Division, Larrabee and Sedgwick — each with its own mix of building types, unit counts and green space.
A Framework Years in the Making
According to the Chicago Housing Authority, the final report outlines the development framework for the approximately 43 acres of CHA-owned sites remaining for redevelopment in Cabrini. As Chicago Construction News reports, the plan is intended to guide the next redevelopment phase across the remaining CHA properties in the area. CHA says the document followed a year-long planning and community engagement process involving hundreds of residents, developed alongside the Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Council, the Near North Unity Program, the 27th Ward and city agencies.
The agency notes it held three community meetings and roughly 30 stakeholder meetings and engagements during that process, with a draft version open for public comment from May 30 through June 15, 2025, per CHA’s own announcement. CHA has said the review and approval process needed to finalize the report was delayed during an extended leadership transition period for the agency.
Four Zones, Different Scales
Per details reported by ChicagoYIMBY, the Rowhome sites are planned for roughly 1,100 new units and 400 parking spaces spread across townhomes and low-, mid- and high-rise buildings, with a handful of existing rowhomes retained and renovated rather than demolished. The Sedgwick sites would hold around 650 units in mid- to high-rise buildings, while the Division sites are slated for about 1,000 units, mostly in mid- and high-rise construction, plus roughly an acre of new public open space. The Larrabee sites, spanning six parcels, would bring around 1,200 units and an additional acre of green space, primarily through low- to mid-rise buildings.
Chicago Construction News reports that the plan calls for preserving and rehabilitating vacant historic rowhomes elsewhere in the footprint, and that the proposed housing mix ranges from townhomes to taller residential buildings depending on the site. The same outlet notes the framework also calls for community programming recognizing Cabrini-Green’s history and legacy.
Parks, Sidewalks and a School Route
Green space is a recurring theme in the final framework, which identifies about 9.1 acres of new public open space citywide, per Chicago Construction News. The Rowhome sites plan specifically calls for extending Durso Park toward Seward Park, the same ChicagoYIMBY report notes, creating a unified seven-acre park. Chicago Construction News adds that the green corridor connects Durso Park, the Jesse White Community Center and Seward Park, and that planned street improvements include rebuilding sidewalks and establishing safer routes around Skinner North Elementary School.
The Court-Mandated Housing Mix
Any new construction in the Cabrini footprint still has to answer to a federal consent decree. According to CHA, the court requires that 33% to 40% of units be designated CHA housing, with no more than 20% as affordable housing and no more than 50% as market-rate — a structure the final framework adopts directly, designating 33 to 40 percent of units as CHA housing while capping affordable units at 20 percent and market-rate units at 50 percent…