The bumpy road to redeveloping historic Lathrop Homes went smoothly last Thursday after affordable housing advocates and the Chicago Housing Authority reached a deal to include a set number of affordable housing units in the project.

CHA and Business and Professional People in the Public Interest, a group of attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Dorothy Gautreaux housing discrimination case, agreed that 525 affordable housing units would be built in the redevelopment, along with another 105 public housing units elsewhere on the Northwest Side. The units in the Lathrop redevelopment will be 420 family units and 105 senior housing units, DNAInfo reports.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved the Lathrop redevelopment in February, but the project has been plagued by disputes over affordable housing set-asides. Affordable housing advocates called for 525 units in the project and accused the development team of Related Midwest, Heartland Housing and Bickerdike Redevelopment of emphasizing market-rate housing. The Lathrop redevelopment calls for 1,200 residences, 50k SF of retail and 800 parking spaces. Lathrop Homes, one of Chicago's oldest public housing projects, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its 18% occupancy rate is among the lowest of CHA's holdings. [DNA]