Making Much of Small Spaces: Evaluation of Lakefront
SRO Housing
1997
Lakefront SRO Corporation is a leading developer of single room occupancy
(SRO) buildings in Chicago and a nationally recognized leader in providing
affordable housing solutions and services for low-income persons, including
the homeless, elderly, and handicapped. Since 1987, Lakefront has developed
and managed seven single room occupancy hotels, which combined total more
than 600 units. In recent years Lakefront has found that there is an increasing
demand for SRO housing from a changing population.
To enable them to better serve their tenants’ needs, they asked
the City Design Center to evaluate the possible addition of a family housing
program to Lakefront SRO’s existing programs for formerly homeless
individuals; to assess the design of current facilities through interviews
with residents and staff; and to develop design guidelines for use in
planning new facilities. The City Design Center’s work is currently
being used by the Lakefront staff and board of directors as they consider
expansion of their programs, and will form the basis of an SRO design
manual for use in their assistance to other SRO housing providers. Marge
Argelyn, Design Coordinator for Lakefront SRO, expects the manual “to
lead to detailed recommendations that will reduce both construction and
maintenance costs while improving tenants’ satisfaction with their
apartments.”
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Map of Chicago with project location
Location of Lakefront
SRO Corporation’s singel room occupancy hotels on Chicago’s
northside
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City Design Center Affiliated Faculty
Charles Hoch, Professor, Urban Planning Program
Khier Al-Kodmany, Assistant Professor, Urban Planning and Policy Program
Collaborating Organization
Lakefront SRO Corporation
Funding
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Research Assistants funded by the UIC Urban Planning Program
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