Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation

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Year founded

1967

Leadership

Joy Aruguete
joyaruguete@bickerdike.org
Executive Director

NCP staff

Christy Prahl
cprahl@bickerdike.org
Program manager - NCP

Keith Muhammad
kmuhammad@bickerdike.org
Outreach worker - NCP

Contact information

2550 W. North Ave. Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 278-5669 phone
(773) 278-5673 fax

Organization mission

To redevelop the community for the benefit of and control by the lower- and moderate-income residents, preserving the ethnic and cultural character of the community while improving its economic conditions. BRC works to provide quality affordable housing, struggle against gentrification and displacement, promote economic development, and advocate for additional resources.

Vision for the future

To preserve affordable housing and gear economic development for the benefit of long-time residents, working in collaboration with other key nonprofits to stabilize property taxes, create more affordable housing, and boost the community’s control over zoning decisions and TIF funds.

Accomplishments to date

During its 41-year history, in West Town, Humboldt Park and Logan Square, Bickerdike has developed 1,106 affordable housing units. Of these, 145 are owner-occupied, 843 are rentals and 118 are cooperative housing.

The agency undertakes community organizing and builds “community controlled development by and about residents,” says Joy Aruguete, executive director. The agency’s 26-year-old Humboldt Construction Co., which builds its developments, employs on average 15 to 20 per year, about 90 percent of whom are community residents.

Recent developments include the completed 57-unit, $17.4-million, mixed-use La Estancia development and the currently under-construction Rosa Parks Apartments, which will produce 94 additional rental units in the area.

To download the full 2004 NCP quality of life plan for Humboldt Park, click here, or for a summary, click here . To download the 2008 update of that plan, click here.