Regarded as one unified development, Madden Park, Wells and Darrow Homes are actually three separate properties located in Chicago’s Mid-South/Bronzeville neighborhood. The general boundaries for these sites are 37th street on the north, Langley on the east, Pershing Road on south and Cottage Grove on the West.

Video of Oakwood Shores Redevelopment Dial Up Users Broadband Users

Warning: If you are accessing the Internet using a modem, the attached video file may take several minutes to download. Please note: videos are best viewed with the latest version of Windows Media Player.

Resident Leadership

Public housing residents are represented by a strong leadership headed by the development’s Local Advisory Council (LAC). This council is synonymous with a tenant association and is headed by an LAC president who is part of the Central Advisory Council, the governing body of the LAC.

Madden-Wells Homes LAC President	Eunice Crosby
Mailing Address	3824 S. Lake Park, 1st Fl. Chicago, IL 60653
Phone	(312) 791-8736 or (312) 567-6647

History

Madden Park, Wells, and Darrow Homes are three distinct sections of a single public housing complex. Built between 1940 and 1970, these three sites occupy a total of 94 acres. And while they are joined together in name, they each embody a very different past in the history of public housing policy.

The low-rise Ida B. Wells development was built in 1941 exclusively for African Americans. It was the largest of the demonstration developments built under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration (initiatives developed to promote socioeconomic recovery during the Great Depression). It was the first housing development in Chicago to incorporate a city park, which offered playgrounds and athletic fields.

Completed in 1961, the now-demolished Clarence Darrow Homes were named after the legendary Chicago-based civil rights lawyer and social activist Clarence Darrow. A total of 479 apartments were built on this site. The Darrow property was demolished in 2000.

Madden Park Homes was built in 1970 and consists of a mix of nine-story and three-story buildings. The Madden Park site was the last of the large housing projects to be constructed by the CHA. It was built during a post-war building boom when the conventional architecture for public housing shifted from low-rise to high-rise structures. This architectural building type was largely regarded as a mistake, and the conversion of Madden Park into low-rise mixed-income housing represents a new turning point for public housing.

Existing Conditions

Madden/Wells is currently home to approximately 2,200 public housing residents.

Plan for Transformation: Mixed-Income Redevelopment

Construction of this new mixed-income community, which will be located only two blocks from Chicago’s popular Lakefront, is scheduled to begin during the spring/summer of 2003. The Madden-Wells site will be reborn as a traditional Chicago neighborhood, connected to the city’s street grid and reflecting the architecture of the surrounding area. Two and three-story walk-ups will represent the dominant housing style for this new community. The Master Plan calls for 3,000 units to be constructed of these 1,000 units will be reserved for public housing residents, 680 for affordable residents, and 1,320 for market-rate residents.

The developers for the first phase of this multi-phase redevelopment plan are Oakwood Boulevard Associate, Community Builders, Granite Development, and Thrush Companies.

Contact Property Management Office or Service Connector for Madden Park, Wells and Darrow Homes