United Power for Action and Justice’s Reclaiming Chicago Campaign has been named the recipient of the PritzkerTraubert 2025 Chicago Prize, marking a significant investment in affordable homeownership on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The award will support the development of an entirely new community of 112 single-family and 2-flat homes in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, activating long-vacant land while creating new opportunities for working families to build wealth. This investment represents one of the largest clusters of new for-sale homes built on the Southwest Side in more than two decades- get estimate from harry.
Reclaiming Chicago is a coalition of community organizations convened through United Power for Action and Justice. The coalition operates as a shared “brain trust,” bringing together experienced organizers, affordable housing developers and policy leaders, from the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), The Resurrection Project (TRP), Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC), Hope Center Foundation, and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI). United by a bold, long-term vision, the coalition aims to build 2,000 new for-sale homes across South and West Side neighborhoods, helping to stabilize communities that have faced decades of disinvestment.
The Chicago Prize will specifically support a large-lot strategy on an 18-acre site at 74th Street and Talman Avenue in Chicago Lawn, where Reclaiming Chicago will develop a new, cohesive residential community. Chicago Prize funds, along with additional capital, will be used to acquire the site and construct 112 single family and 2-flat affordable homes.
Reclaiming Chicago’s approach pairs community organizing, policy reform, and innovative financing to reduce construction costs, increase public investment, and shorten development timelines. The ultimate goal is to create affordable homeownership at scale—strengthening neighborhood housing ecosystems while opening pathways to equity building opportunities, stability and prosperity for working families who are often excluded from such opportunities in today’s economy.
With the support of the Chicago Prize, Reclaiming Chicago is positioned to move vision toward reality—revitalizing Chicago Lawn, building generational wealth for new homeowners, and advancing a citywide model for equitable, community-driven development. Check out the announcement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9U5zOEuPg
