Logan Square’s Community Land Trust Building 12 Affordable Condos For NW Side Families
The condos, some of which will be built on land donated by a neighbor, are a first for the group, which received $1 million in federal funding for the Cortland project from Rep. Delia Ramirez.
by Ariel Parrella-Aureli3 hours ago
Local leaders, dignitaries, Palenque LSNA members and construction workers symbolically break the ground for The Here to Stay Community Land Trust’s condo project Oct. 3, 2025 at 2638 W. Cortland St. in Logan Square, the first condo and ground up construction project for the land trust group. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
LOGAN SQUARE — Northwest Side families struggling to stay in the area will soon have more long-term housing options with two separate residential condo projects launched by Logan Square’s community land trust group.
The Here to Stay Community Land Trust, a group that helps younger families with roots on the Northwest Side become homeowners at a below-market rate, broke ground on its first condo building last week. It will bring six condos to an empty lot at 2638 W. Cortland St. donated by neighbor Tom Wilkinson.
Later this month, the trust will welcome six more condos at 1508 N. Harding Ave. in Humboldt Park, a building the land trust bought and has worked to renovate to increase housing stock in the gentrifying area. In the future, the group plans to turn an old coach house on the property into four more condos once more funding comes through to complete renovations, said Bhaskar Manda, Here to Stay board director and a member with Palenque LSNA.
“Not only is this the first ground-up new construction for the land trust, but there is another really cool feature, which is that this land has been donated to us by a neighbor,” Manda said at last week’s groundbreaking for the Cortland condos.
The Here To Stay Land Trust will build its first six condos at 2638 W. Cortland St. in Logan Square that will be affordable forever under the land trust. Credit: Provided
Wilkinson, who lives next door to the lot and bought it a few years ago, had a goal to build affordable units there after the former owner sold the property and the old three-flat building was demolished. After reaching out to Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), Wilkinson was connected to the land trust group and decided to donate the land to them, given their community-first approach to keep families in the area.
“I can’t wait to hear construction noise for the next months, and then after that I’m really looking forward to meeting whoever moves in here, and I’m happy that we all get to share this stretch of Logan Square,” Wilkinson said.
Logan Square resident Tom Wilkinson, who donated the empty lot to The Here to Stay Community Land Trust, speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 3, 2025 at 2638 W. Cortland St. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
The Here To Stay land trust — founded in 2019 by Palenque LSNA, the Center for Changing Lives, LUCHA and the Spanish Coalition for Housing — helps lower- to medium-income families with roots in Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Hermosa and Avondale build generational wealth by buying the land of subsidized properties. Since beginning the work, the group has sold 22 homes and multi-unit buildings, including donated homes for the cause, and it has five homes currently under contract and another five undergoing renovations.
That will bring the group’s total housing portfolio to 45 housing units once the projects underway are completed next year, Manda said.
The effort’s inaugural home, near The 606’s Bloomingdale Trail, sold to a family in 2022.
The condos are a first for the group, which received $1 million in federal funding for the Cortland project from Rep. Delia Ramirez last year.
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez speaks at The Here to Stay Community Land Trust’s condo project groundbreaking Oct. 3, 2025 at 2638 W. Cortland St. in Logan Square, the first condo and ground up construction project for the land trust group. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
The target condo homebuyer earns 80 percent of the area median income, which is $95,900 for a family of four. The expected sales price for land trust condos is $135,000-$165,000 — much lower than market-rate condos for the area, which start at $300,000, per real estate listings.
Dignitaries, community members and housing leaders praised the land trust’s work to make sure residents in neighborhoods facing skyrocketing housing prices can stay and be connected to their community.
“In a time of so much austerity, scarcity, fear and hate, this is a time that we also have to choose the way that we respond, and we know that our neighbors, our communities, deserve every single thing they need to thrive,” Ramirez said in a passionate speech. “This is the kind of community and neighborhood that we continue to work to build, and it is why it was the honor of my life as your congressista to work with Here To Stay.”
The Cortland condos will take six to eight months to build, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Oct. 23 for the Harding condos.