An Uptown apartment building that was part of Heartland Housing, a nonprofit developer that went belly up after the pandemic cratered rent collections, could go on the auction block next year. The potential auction has raised fears among residents, including many with disabilities, that a for-profit developer will buy the property and transform it into luxury housing.
“I’d have to find another place, and I don’t honestly know where,” said Jeff Martin, a 61-year-old who moved into the Leland at 1207 W. Leland Ave. in 2022 after a stroke left him unable to work. “Everybody wants to stay here, and we do worry about being homeless again.”
The six-story Uptown building is one of more than a dozen former Heartland Housing properties that collectively provide hundreds of affordable units, many sheltering those at greatest risk of homelessness, including seniors, veterans and those with disabilities or mental health issues.
After rent collections tanked, Heartland had difficulty staffing and maintaining the properties. Residents complained about a lack of security, high vacancy rates and deteriorating physical conditions, and in 2023 a Cook County judge appointed the nonprofit Community Initiatives, which runs the city’s Troubled Buildings Initiative, as receiver to oversee Heartland’s portfolio.