Nearly $1.9 million in public money has sat idle on a vacant acre in Evanston's 5th Ward for almost two years. The community planning process that's supposed to determine the future of the city-owned land at Emerson Street and Jackson Avenue still has no confirmed start date, despite repeated promises from the alderman driving the project.

Evanston Now reported July 6 that planning for the site is "about to begin," though no specific workshop dates or milestones have been announced. It's not the first time a launch has been telegraphed. In January 2026, 5th Ward Ald. Bobby Burns told a ward meeting the engagement would start "no later than April, most likely March." That spring target came and went.

The city purchased seven properties at 1917–25 Jackson Ave. and 1413–25 Emerson St. for $1.675 million in June 2022, then spent $207,000 to demolish the boarded-up houses in 2023. The site has been empty since.

Burns has championed a community-first approach to redevelopment. Rather than selecting a developer and then soliciting public input, he wants residents to shape a housing vision before any builder is chosen. He has cited Chicago's INVEST South/West initiative as a model.

"I just don't want to jump ahead and identify a developer," Burns told the Evanston Roundtable in May 2025. "I want to follow through on what I've described to the community, which is a process where, separate from a development group, that the community is allowed to come up with a vision of their own for the site."

Getting to that process has proven difficult. In May 2025, the City Council's Administration and Public Works Committee unanimously rejected a recommended $248,000 contract with S.B. Friedman Development Advisors, the top-scoring firm out of 12 bidders. Runner-up Collabo had bid $125,000 for the same work. 4th Ward Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma asked whether the city was "paying for a Cadillac when the Chevy would get the job done."

Burns said in January 2026 that the city had revised the project's scope to reduce costs, allowing the process to be handled administratively without a separate council vote. Which firm ultimately won the work has not been publicly confirmed.

In 2018, a Libertyville-based developer proposed building 44 multi-family units on the properties, but neighborhood opposition killed the plan. The city eventually bought the vacant homes and razed them.

Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak is the city staff lead on the project. The city's website still directs residents to "check back periodically for updates," with no dates listed.