Rogers Park Future Site of Urban Farm?

If you are a resident of Chicago’s East Rogers Park neighborhood, you may—in the near future—have the opportunity to bear witness to an ambitious new urban farming project. The initiative, helmed by Rogers Park Farms, is slated for a two-acre lot located at 7501 N. Ashland, which is the former site of Lerner Newspapers. With new construction at a relative standstill, an urban farm with the capacity to grow a bounty of produce and act as a site of agricultural and business training might be the perfect solution to a currently foreclosed plot of land.

After an unsuccessful open invitation to developers for proposals on how to deal with the vacant lot, Chicago residents (organized as Rogers Park Farms) proposed the aforementioned urban farming project as a productive solution to the lack of interest in starting new construction. Still very much in need of funding and city help to liberate the property from private ownership, Rogers Park Farms has reached out to Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward. The organization is working with Moore to scribe an ordinance authorizing the city to negotiate to buy the property.

While the urban farm proposed by Rogers Park Farms has piqued Moore’s interest, the alderman wants to remain open to alternative development ideas for the empty plot of land. The foreclosed property lies in the Howard Paulina district of Chicago and trumpets a significant sum of money (more than $11 million) to finance any potential construction proposals. Still, Rogers Park Farms is determined to snap up the vacant lot. It is partnering with the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, which is currently setting up a farm on the West Side of Chicago. Proponents of the urban farming project say it could provide jobs in an area currently experiencing a high rate of unemployment.

East Rogers Park is Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood along the lakefront. The local culture is a mix of independent businesses, tasty eateries, under-the-radar nightspots and scenic lakeside parks and beaches—an ideal setting to cultivate homegrown victuals in the big city.

Post by: Dream Town real estate in Chicago