The poster child for east side decay is, arguably, Poplar Place, a housing development created in the 1940s. As years have passed, the development that includes more than 200 units, primarily duplexes, has fallen apart, with trash piling up and streets going unfixed. Because streets are owned by the complex’s owner, a Chicago-based firm, the city has been reluctant to repave roads and fix potholes with no guarantee of compensation from the development’s owner and no assurance that investments in streets would lead to investments in the buildings south of George Washington Middle School, not far from East Cook Street.

In February, the city agreed to spend $1.2 million in tax increment financing funds to fix the roads, but it’s not a sure thing. City money is contingent on improvements to buildings, which has been proposed by Iceberg Development, an Iowa company that is seeking financing with the help of Lightengale Group, a Chicago firm that specializes in finding money for affordable housing. Under the plan, the bulk of the money for a $22 million overhaul would come in the form of tax credits awarded by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Virginia Pace, Lightengale president, said she expects a decision from IHDA by early June.

Under the plan, the number of units would be cut to 99 dwellings, including 77 single-family homes. If all goes well, construction would begin in December, Pace says, and continue for between 14 and 16 months. The good news, she says, is that the buildings were built well and so are good candidates for rehabilitation.

“They’ve got good bones,” Pace says.

–Bruce Rushton