Why is Buying a Vacant Lot So Hard?

Four years after applying to build a single-family home on a vacant lot bordering West Loop and East Garfield Park, Makema Adkins closed on the lot and broke ground this month.

Adkins first told us about the process and its many challenges in 2022. She caught us up on what took so long.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Last we talked, you said you thought you’d break ground in March 2023. It’s July 2024. What happened?

“Oh my gosh, what didn't happen? When I talked to you guys, we had done phase 1 and 2 [environmental] testing. And then it turns out that we needed phase 3 testing, which is very expensive, very involved.”

What advice would you give to your 2020 self?

“I would tell my 2020 self to be a little more annoying. You turn in the application and you realize that I have to go through different departments, and you want to give people time and grace to do their job. But at the 2-and-a-half year mark, I was so desperate for information that I would just go on LinkedIn to see who worked for the city — who worked in the planning department — and I would just spam all of those people.”

“And sending ‘I need an update’ email every week instead of every two weeks, which is what I was doing. Maybe including more people in the department, maybe including bosses of people who I was talking to would have helped.”

Why go through all of this?

“I love my neighborhood. I've been there for 15 years. My kids go to the Montessori school two blocks away. I love the school. It's close. The lot in my neighborhood is closer to downtown. I've seen a lot of growth in the neighborhood. I see the potential of the neighborhood.”