A Shuttered West Side School Gets New Life: City Council Approves 103 Affordable Apartments at Former Von Humboldt Elementary
By Socialhood News · Humboldt Park ·
A long-vacant neighborhood landmark is finally getting a second act. On Wednesday, September 23, the Chicago City Council approved a transformative plan to convert the former Von Humboldt Elementary School into 103 new affordable apartments — one of the most significant housing investments Humboldt Park has seen in years, and a direct answer to longtime residents' calls to keep the neighborhood accessible for the people who built it.
The project, approved as part of a larger $57.6 million package of city subsidies covering two developments in Edgewater and Humboldt Park, will set aside every one of the 103 units for Chicagoans earning no more than 60% of the city's area median income. That threshold currently works out to $72,900 for a family of four — meaning these homes are targeted squarely at working families, not market-rate newcomers. The city subsidies for both projects also draw on funds from Mayor Brandon Johnson's signature economic development effort, marking one of the first large-scale deployments of that initiative into a West Side neighborhood.
Von Humboldt Elementary was shuttered during the tenure of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, part of a wave of school closings that left dozens of Chicago buildings empty and, for many residents, represented a painful disinvestment in communities like Humboldt Park. Sitting idle for years, the building became a symbol of the neighborhood's struggle to hold onto public resources. Now, with Wednesday's council vote, that story is changing — and the reuse of the existing structure rather than demolition honors the site's history while adding much-needed housing stock.
The approval comes as Humboldt Park is experiencing a broader arc of reinvestment. The neighborhood is one of ten priority communities selected for Chicago's INVEST South/West initiative, a corridor-focused economic development strategy launched in 2019 with a goal of reactivating neighborhood commercial cores along North and Chicago avenues. The Von Humboldt conversion fits squarely within that mission: it reclaims a public institution, adds density in a community that needs it, and keeps affordability — not speculation — at the center of the plan.
For residents, the stakes are straightforward. Humboldt Park has faced steady displacement pressure as investment has crept westward across the city. Every affordable unit that comes online is one more household that gets to stay. The 60% AMI cap ensures these apartments won't quietly drift out of reach once the ribbon is cut. And at 103 units, this is not a token gesture — it's a genuine contribution to the neighborhood's housing supply.
The financing structure behind the project also tells a broader story. Both the Humboldt Park and Edgewater developments are set to use city borrowing programs in addition to direct subsidies, reflecting what the WTTW report on the vote described as just how complicated — and expensive — it has become to build affordable housing in Chicago. That the city is moving forward anyway, at this scale, with this level of public commitment, is itself news worth marking.
The city council's vote this week sets the stage for the next phase: detailed development timelines, construction milestones, and eventually, applications for future residents. Neighbors who want to stay close to the process can follow updates through their alderperson's office and through the Chicago Department of Housing's affordable housing portal at chicago.gov/housing. When the day comes to apply for a unit in the building where generations of West Side kids once learned to read, Humboldt Park will be ready.
Sources:
1. https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/23/city-council-approves-plans-200-affordable-homes-edgewater-humboldt-park