The Committee on Housing and Real Estate has approved the initial funding for the renovation of the Island Terrace Apartments building at 6430 S Stony Island Drive in Woodlawn. Located near the intersection with E 65th Street and a few blocks south of the future Obama Presidential Center, the tower will receive significant updates under its new owner. That owner being the Preservation Of Affordable Housing (POAH) who is working with an undisclosed architect on the project at the moment.
Site plan of 6430 S Stony Island Drive via Google Maps
Built in 1969 and rising 21-stories tall, the beige concrete clad structure was previously owned by PNC Bank since 2015 before sold to POAH for $29 million last year. Now the developer is proceeding with its announced plans to heavily remodel the building and its 240-residential units made up of one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts. The actual apartment floor plans will remain the same but receive new electrical, plumbing, and air conditioning as well as new windows, kitchen updates and a deep cleaning.
Current view inside of an apartment within 6430 S Stony Island Drive via the Preservation Of Affordable Housing
The building itself will have its facade repaired as well as new elevators, roof, repaved parking lot, and improved accessibility. The ground floor will also see an added community room and renovated computer lab, while the grounds would hold a new outdoor space with a children’s playground. A previous announcement from POAH claimed they plan on a 20-year extension of the 132 section-8 units, 11 units of housing fund credit, and offering the remaining 99-units at 60- and 80-percent Area Median Income (AMI).
Current view of 6430 S Stony Island Drive via Google Maps
Overall the project will cost $41.5 million with an expense of roughly $100,000 per unit, this will be covered by a mix of funding from multi-family loans, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), and more. City Council is set to review the funding application of $13.7 million next week after the committee’s approval. If fully approved, construction will commence in January with an 18 to 24 month timeline for completion.
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That seems like a pretty high cost per unit. It seems similar to the cost per unit of new three-flats.
We really need to find a way to bring down the cost of construction for affordable units. We can’t have a system where new market rate units cost less to build than the renovation of existing affordable units.
While I agree, it’s cheaper than new construction of large multi family affordable units these days, which seem to be at least half a million per unit if not more. So it’s definitely worth the cost to keep these affordable and updating them rather needing to build new.
If they’re redoing the building’s plumbing and electric and windows – basically everything – $100,000k a unit sounds like a very sensible price. With that investment, the building is good for another 50 years. Overall, I’d say it’s a really good investment, a good way to spend public dollars to produce lots of solid but unglamorous affordable housing.
Unfortunately, the city Dept of Housing has a preference for nicer, more expensive housing. Nicer, but fewer units. The new buildings the city is sponsoring, a lot of them are $600k, $700k even more a unit. Poor bang for the buck if what you’re trying to do is house people.
The city has lots of buildings of this era that have reached the point of needing everything. This is a very effective way to spend public money to provide affordable housing.
If they’re redoing the building’s plumbing and electric and windows – basically everything – $100,000k a unit sounds like a very sensible price. With that investment, the building is good for another 50 years. Overall, I’d say it’s a really good investment, a good way to spend public dollars to produce lots of solid but unglamorous affordable housing.
Unfortunately, the city Dept of Housing has a preference for nicer, more expensive housing. Nicer, but fewer units. The new buildings the city is sponsoring, a lot of them are $600k, $700k even more a unit. Poor bang for the buck if what you’re trying to do is house people.
The city has lots of buildings of this era that have reached the point of needing everything. This is a very effective way to spend public money to provide affordable housing.