Chicago residents unionize to fight possible displacement, rent hikes over Obama Presidential Center

Chicago residents in rent-controlled housing near a site being constructed to honor former President Barack Obama have reportedly unionized in response to the controversial project.

Residents of a longtime Woodlawn apartment building organized to resist possible displacement and rent increases they say are being driven by development pressure surrounding the Obama Presidential Center. 

Tenants at the Chaney Braggs Apartments rallied earlier this month outside their building near 65th Street and Stony Island Avenue, saying a potential sale of the property could upend the lives of families who have lived there for decades, FOX 32 Chicago reported.

A California-based investor is seeking to buy the building and might either renovate or demolish it, according to residents. Tenants say they have been offered $2,000 per household to move out, a proposal they say falls far short of what families would need to relocate in a rapidly changing neighborhood.

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Residents in low-income housing fearing displacement and rent hikes is only the latest criticism of the Obama Presidential Center. (Fox Flight Team; Getty)

Many residents currently pay between $700 and $800 a month in rent. Some say they have lived in the building for 30 or 40 years and fear they will not be able to find comparable housing in Woodlawn if rents rise or the property is redeveloped.

In response, residents have formed a tenant union to push back against the threat of displacement and preserve affordability in the building. They say the union first came together after the previous landlord abandoned the property about two years ago, forcing tenants to organize around maintenance issues and basic services.

Now, residents say that same network is being used to confront a larger challenge: staying in their homes as investment tied to the Obama Presidential Center reshapes the surrounding neighborhood.

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A before-and-after aerial graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, including the removal of Cornell Drive and construction along Stony Island Avenue. (Fox News)

The apartment building, tenants said, was once owned by a nonprofit committed to affordable housing and community stability. But with those protections no longer in place, residents say they are increasingly vulnerable to market pressures that have intensified as construction on the presidential center continues nearby.

No sale has been finalized, and the identity of the prospective buyer had not been publicly confirmed as of Thursday. Residents say they have contacted city and state officials for assistance but have not yet received a response.

The standoff underscores broader anxieties in Woodlawn, where the Obama Presidential Center has brought promises of jobs and investment alongside fears of gentrification and displacement. For tenants at Chaney Braggs Apartments, those concerns have become immediate and personal.

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Residents say they plan to continue organizing while awaiting more information about the building’s future, possible rent increases and whether city officials will step in.

The Obama Presidential Center, set to open in Chicago’s South Side on June 18, is a 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park featuring a 225-foot museum tower, library and community forum.

Obama, the first American Black president, is celebrating the grand opening of the over-budget building — called an eyesore by critics — on the eve of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved Black Americans there that they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

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The holiday has been observed as a celebration of Black freedom, resilience and community, and in recent years has taken on broader national significance as both a commemoration of liberation and a reminder of the long struggle for racial justice in the United States.

Obama had once described the center as a “gift” to Chicago. It is a gift that keeps on costing.

A Fox News Digital investigation in February found taxpayers are absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars in related public infrastructure costs tied to the project. Those expenses include road redesigns, stormwater systems and utility relocations needed to support the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park. No government agency has provided a full accounting of the total public cost despite months of inquiries and Freedom of Information Act requests.

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Initial projections put public infrastructure spending at about $350 million to be shared by the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. Critics now argue those obligations have grown into a major public burden as the project has faced delays and mounting costs.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.