A number of studios in small houses and trailers operated in the 289/121 area up until the early 1990s.
Quite a bit of real estate development buzz began developing in the 1980s, when a number of investors and speculators began sniffing around the area. At that time, it was clear that the little playground's days were numbered.
Perhaps the funniest thing about this whole story is that the name of one of the primary developers active in the area at that time was Homart Development Company.
Yes, that's right -- "Homart" Development Company (a subsidiary of Sears). You just can't make this stuff up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homart_Development_Company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonebriar_Centre
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1...hopping-center
But even if shopping center and other commercial real estate developers hadn't become active in the area, rapidly expanding homebuilding activity probably would have chased away the studios during the 1990s.
