As move-out date arrives at Chicago building raided by feds, one resident looks back — and ahead

On a snowy Wednesday, two days before their final move-out date, a group of people huddled over a desk in the lobby of the apartment building at 7500 South Shore Drive in Chicago.

They were picking up checks and turning in keys to representatives from Friedman Communities, the foreclosed building’s court-appointed manager. A judge earlier this week ordered the squalid South Shore building vacated by Dec. 12, calling it a fire trap. Nearby, residents rolled out dollies loaded with boxes and trash bags through the front door.

Most of the people who were living there have moved out by now. Some made arrangements with friends and family. Others got help from the city or local nonprofits and found new places to live.

But Darren Hightower, 41, was one of a handful of people with no long-term