Wednesday, April 27, 2005
"Going Condo" Stirs Outcry Among Residents
Hoping to cash in on soaring prices for Chicago condominiums, the owners
of an apartment complex in
Chicago neighborhood of River North, called Ontario Place, is planning
to go condo. Residents, however, are picketing and protesting, concerned
that they will not be able to find suitable housing elsewhere in the city.
The problem is that many of these residents are low-income seniors and
immigrants, with no where else to go. When the building was first erected,
it put aside 83 units for Section 8, or government subsidized housing. The
Section 8 contract expired in 2003, and the new owners of the building
have no obligation to continue to provide housing for long-time residents.
