Student Athlete Housing Supported by Washington Park Land Sale

A $10.8-million project by Center Court Development LLC, operated by Kamau Murray of the XS Tennis and Education Foundation (XTEF), has been approved by the Chicago City Council this week to construct twenty-three housing units for student athletes in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood. The development will include a trio of two-unit buildings on the 5400 block of South Dearborn Street and 17 townhomes on South Federal Street, where elite tennis players, their families and support staff can reside while training at XS Tennis Village – an athletic complex in Washington Park with 27 courts that was constructed with $2.9 million in city support back in 2018 as a training center for approximately 3,000 youths per year. Players, families and staff will use these homes throughout the year to attend tennis camps, tournaments or other activities at this adjacent complex; four units will be rented out at affordable rates too! Since its construction back then XSTEF has sent 47 youth to Division 1 schools with tennis scholarships – making it clear how beneficial such housing developments are for aspiring student athletes!