Full Circle

Fresh out of service in 1967 I went to work for an old south side Chicago property management firm. In Chicago's old Grand Boulevard  district at 47th & Martin Luther King Drive. Some formerly elegant apartment buildings and some of the most beautiful vintage brick and stone homes from the late 1800's. The tenants were mostly older black folks who had kept the neighborhood stable and in good repair since the late 30's. But the neighborhood was changing. Housing projects all around the city were drawing in some residents from other areas...other cities. These new folks were changing the balance of good to bad. The 1965 to 1970 period ended with massive amounts of apartments and homes being torn down, and I was being tagged by the Building Department as the "King of demos" 

"The Prince of Destruction".... as one clerk called me.

                                                                This one lived!

During my tenure at the firm (22 years) I did everything to advance myself and the company. I went to night courses all over the area to enhance my knowledge. I joined every professional organization that would have me. I secured   positions in the National, Illinois, Chicago, and South Side Real Estate Boards.

 I mainly sought new sources for revenue for the company. We knocked on doors in every way you could. Doctors own a lot of property. I'll contact them! Many phone calls and leads and I had picked up over 1,000 additional  units to manage. I hit up on the Banks and Trust companies. A lot of work there. One banker told me " HUD and FSLIC were huge property holders. There were a lot of foreclosures going on in the 70's and 80's. We secured Area Management Contracts for both agencies and exploded from then on. At one time we had the  contract for the largest geographic chunk of the south side of Chicago. From Madison Street to 127th Street, from Ashland to Lake Michigan. I used to live in most of these areas that we were now in charge of.

When a bank or another agency like HUD insured a loan where the folks default, a foreclosure follows. The bank or other lender holds the property about a year before they could turn it over to HUD. The period of redemption. Then HUD gets the title and assumes physical responsibility for the property an it's ultimate disposition. HUD sends me the notice of title and I make the first physical inspection of the property after it was vacated and after the one year period of redemption. Banks and S&L's were supposed to be cutting the weeds, maintaining the exterior, keeping it secured, disconnecting utilities, winterizing, etc. Some did...most didn't. Many places were opened to the elements and vandalized in one form or another. My job then was to survey the property , prepare an inspection report, Take Polaroids,  estimate the repairs, appraise the value...to basically determine it's useful life.

These were mostly high crime areas.

I ordered the wholesale demolition of over 2,000 homes because they weren't worth putting a single dime of the taxpayers money into a losing proposition. Many of these homes were beyond repair and should of never passed the lending process. But that was HUD. I put every place under a construction microscope and like a triage nurse and executioner hybrid,had the  bad ones  torn down. 
During one such "shock and awe" period of demolition is when  the gal at the permit office  called me  the  "The Prince of Destruction"

At one point We had 5 guys making regular inspections after the initial take over But I personally inspected every new property. One of the side benefits was the things that people leave behind. Always a bit of a scavenger treasure hunter I wasn't above carrying some gem to the car. Later on I would simply mark what I wanted and have the clean out or the demo crew put it aside for me. I would pay them to bring it to my shop. 

                                                                 Thomas Hull & John McNairy




An amazing amount of items including antiques, furniture, architectual stuff, every kind, trinkets, treasures, even old guns left in basement and attics. I carried a folding ladder for my inspections anyway. A jump suit and a flashlight as most places were boarded up solid. I ain't afraid of no ghosts! I repaired a lot, sold a lot, gave away a lot. So many stories to tell about certain inspections. Like falling into a basement in the dark...filled with cold water from a broken pipe, making my way to a window, breaking it out and crawling out into a cold winter. Live critters, dead critters, one dead guy. Crazy neighborhood dogs guarding a vacant yard. I met a lot of interesting people too. I was handling my old stomping grounds in Roseland.  A southern suburb near the old Pullman district. Roseland is where my 1st daughter was born.

 My friend Pat McAuliff was the area inspector and kept a close watch on his section.It was during the mid 80's that I  met a young Barack Obama in his Roseland church office. 

As the Area Manager for HUD in the area he was asking me  about the dispositions of some area properties.I explained the process and that was that. He was professional, cordial, and right to the point. I was to see him a few months later at an Altgeld Garden meeting on asbestos removal. I was a chairman of the Chicago Real Estate Boards management group and appointed the resident asbestos expert and represented them. He was working to secure abatement funds and assisting in new CTA bus routes to extend to the gardens. And that was that. Small room, noisy crowd.

As I look back now at the work...the fun...the danger, I also realize the impact of that lost housing stock. Many of those neighborhoods I grew up in, like Englewood still have a long way to go. But I know, that those properties needed to go. Never again to be quickly painted and scammed back together so some lender could pass a loan to a property and person ill equipped to keep it viable. Some of the neighborhoods held on. 

 We rehabbed this apartment building at 71st & the Dan Ryan.

It's always "only the strong survive"  and change is constant" attitude that prevails. 

A lot more needs to be done.