Tenants near Obama Presidential Center battling to stay in building as sale nears

A group of tenants who live just blocks from the Obama Presidential Center, scheduled to open in June, are fighting to stay in their homes after learning the foreclosed Woodlawn property could be sold.

Residents of the Chaney Braggs Apartments, 1554-56 E. 65th St., have formed a tenant union and say the prospective out-of-town buyer is offering cash to residents who move out.

“Now that the Obama Center is coming, all of these new buyers want to come in, and they want to take over the land that has already been here and kick out the people that have been here,” resident Kyana Butler, 31, said at a news conference outside their building Thursday. “I want to stay right where I'm at. I don't want to be forced out. I want to be able to let my daughter stay here, and then I want her to grow up in the same building.”

Organizers said the new owner, in negotiations with the tenant union's lawyer, has offered $2,000 to residents to leave the building. As of Thursday, 20 households were in the building.

“He started with a cash offer, only $2,000 for keys for people who have been here for over 40 years. I think that that is absurd,” Butler said.

WBEZ was unable to reach the prospective owner for comment.

Since the Obama Foundation announced plans a decade ago for the $800 million center, residents have expressed concerns about gentrification and displacement in the area. In 2020, the city of Chicago adopted the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance, but that has not stopped the flow of investors buying up properties near the center.

Cook County records show the building was last owned by the Woodlawn East Community and Neighbors, the organization founded by the late housing activist Mattie Butler, Kyana Butler’s great-aunt. The property, which includes units along Stony Island Avenue, went into foreclosure in 2023, less than a year after Butler’s death.

Since then, residents say a relative of Butler’s took over but “disappeared,” and residents have since helped to manage the property, cleaning and making repairs as needed.

Last September, a Cook County judge appointed a receiver over the building to address deteriorating conditions, according to Cook County records. According to a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Buildings, the building is currently on the city’s “scofflaw list” and officials have conducted ongoing inspections and are working to “hold the [WECAN] accountable for the deterioration of their building.” The receiver, Chicago nonprofit Community Investment Corp, said in a statement it is working to address “deferred maintenance and code violations.”

Residents learned through court proceedings that the building could be sold to a prospective buyer from California, who has plans to gut-rehab it, likely resulting in higher rents.

“This [building] is the foundation of what used to be a strong not-for-profit community organization meant for affordable housing,” resident Reyna Collins said. “It's kind of insane and ironic that this … community should be so quickly swept out from something that's really our own.”

Infiniti Gant, an organizer with community nonprofit Southside Together, said some members of the tenant union had been living in the building for close to 40 years.

“People who have been here for 20, 30, 40 years are now being told that they have to leave because the neighborhood is improving,” Gant said. “We need more to make sure everyone who wants to stay here is able to stay and benefit from the Obama Center coming to the neighborhood.”

She added that the Obama Foundation has been promoting Airbnb and hosting informational sessions for homeowners to rent out their properties to tourists visiting the presidential center.

A spokesperson for the foundation did not address the potential impact of short-term rentals on the shortage of affordable housing in the area, but said in a statement the group is “working hard to ensure the opportunities created by the private investment we’re making in the Obama Presidential Center benefit the people who call the South Side home.”

Gant said the building is an Illinois Housing Development Authority-financed property and must provide low-income housing until 2032. However, Gant said those considered low-income still could be asked by the new owner to pay more for their units than the $700 to 800 per month they now pay for one- and two-bedroom units.

An development authority spokesperson said maximum rents at that building could range from $1,050 to 1,350.

Gant called on officials, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, 5th Ward Ald. Desmond Yancy and state representatives, to work with the tenant union to ensure “that the building is preserved and that people can spend another 20, 30, 40 years here.”

Attempts to reach WECAN for comment were unsuccessful Thursday, as the group's voice mailbox was full.