10 Years of Waiting: Albany Park Neighbors Are Calling on NEIU to Finally Do Something With Its Vacant Properties

By Socialhood News · Il/Chicago/Albany Park · May 29, 2026

A decade is a long time to wait — and Albany Park residents are done being patient. Fox 32 Chicago is shining a spotlight on a long-simmering frustration in the neighborhood: Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) acquired several properties in Albany Park years ago, displacing all the businesses and tenants that once occupied them, but has yet to develop a single one. As of May 2026, the university has no public plans to move the sites forward.

For neighbors who walk past these empty lots and shuttered storefronts day after day, the stagnation is hard to ignore — especially on a commercial corridor like Lawrence Avenue, where every active, thriving business matters to the neighborhood's identity as Chicago's Gateway to the World. The story has reignited community conversations about accountability, land use, and what Albany Park deserves from institutions that hold space within it.

But Albany Park has never been a neighborhood that sits quietly. Residents, community organizations like the North River Commission, and local leaders have consistently shown they know how to turn frustration into action — and this story is no different. If you want to add your voice to the conversation about NEIU's vacant properties and Albany Park's future, connect with your neighbors at northrivercommission.org and let your alderperson know where you stand. Albany Park's blocks are too valuable — and too full of potential — to sit empty for another decade.

Sources:
1. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/10-years-later-vacant-neiu-properties-fuel-frustration-albany-park