In 1968, The Woodlawn Organization built Grove Park Place as part of an effort to revitalize the Woodlawn community with quality, affordable housing. Recognizing both the opportunity for community development and the need for a focused property management and development group, TWO created the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation (WCDC) to take over management of Grove Park Place, as well as develop and manage future properties in Woodlawn.

As its first priority, WCDC undertook the aggressive redevelopment of a 30 acre track of land between 60th and 65th streets, Stony Island and the IC Metra tracks. This entire area was an individual sub-component of the award-winning and nationally recognized “TWO Model Cities Plan.” Neighborhood residents and community based groups were organized and brought to a common table for the purposes of visioning and creating a strategic approach for the area with individuals who possessed the skills and expertise to make their visions into realities.

WCDC has an annual operating budget of more than $30 million and is the largest developer and property manager in the Woodlawn community. WCDC has a total of 200 staff persons with an executive board consisting of a chairman, president and seventeen board members.

With more than 30 years of experience in managing low and moderate-income housing, WCDC is able to apply its holistic service approach to the community, providing housing for more than 10,000 citizens. To date, WCDC manages more than 6,500 units via independent management contracts and partnerships with the Chicago Housing Authority.