On February 21, 2020, the City transferred the deed to 1202 N. Walnut, Champaign, for a house being designed by University of Illinois students for the 2020 Solar Decathlon. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition comprising ten contests that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The long- term use of the property will be rental housing for graduate students and visiting professors.
The lot at 1202 N. Walnut was previously declared surplus property and was included in two lot disposition Requests for Proposals with no proposals received in either cycle. The donation of the property will assist with the research and construction of a residential solar home, advancing the City’s environmental sustainability goals. The transfer of title also eliminates the City’s continued maintenance costs for the lot in the Garwood Area Addition, where infill housing is a goal identified in the Bristol Park Neighborhood Plan.