From the July 3rd Chicago Tribune "TIF may help revive historic complex" by Blair Kamin.
Singer Nat "King" Cole lived there as did poet Gwendolyn Brooks and music producer Quincy Jones. Even with these notable past tenants, the Roserwald Apartments in Chicago, occupying a block on Michigan Avenue and 47th Street, has been shuttered for over a decade but may be on the path of coming back if a developer has his way.
Built in 1929 with an endowment by Sears, Roebuck & Co. president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (who also built the Museum of Science and Industry) the complex of five connected buildings was designed by his nephew Ernest Grunsfield, Jr, who was also the architect of the Adler Planetarium. It was home for generations of blacks. He also was the reason for the Rosenwald Schools being built to educate blacks in the South.
In 2003, it was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 11 most endangered list after the neighborhood around it declined, residents moved out and it became a haven for drug dealers.
Let's hope these plans come through and it becomes a part in the redevelopment of the surrounding area.
Saving Those Old Buildings. --Cooter
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