Additional funding has been approved for two affordable housing projects as part of the city’s new bond program. This bond program was approved back in April, now the proposals at 1801 S Wabash Avenue and 4531 W Washington Boulevard will be the first to be financed by it. This first round of approvals will be contributing $20.5 million between the two.
The $1.25 billion bond funding plan is part of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s initiative to help cut red tape and pivot how the city distributes funds. This will include how they subsidize affordable housing, provide business grants, and launch mixed-use developments in disinvested commercial corridors according to Crain’s.
The program allocates between $230-250 million towards construction and preservation of affordable housing. This will be spread out over roughly five-years, with $75 million expected to be distributed in 2024. The two aforementioned projects are as follows:
Site plan of 1801 South Wabash and 1800 South Michigan, by Nia Architects
Street view of 1801 S Wabash Avenue via Google Maps
1801 S Wabash Avenue | South Loop | $10.9 Million in Funds
The $10.9 million in bonds will go towards the redevelopment of an existing SRO structure by developer Mercy Housing. This is also part of a multi-phase project that includes the new structure to its north at 1800 S Wabash Avenue. With Nia Architects serving as the designers, the six-story building currently holds 100 micro units.
Elevation and floor plan of 1801 S Wabash Avenue by Nia Architects
These will be fully renovated and restored, 97 of them will be offered for those making 30-60 percent AMI, with the last three will be for those making 80 percent AMI. The project has been fully approved and will cost $54.9 million. This has been partially funded via additional bonds, loans, and various tax credits. No construction timeline is known.
Rendering of 4531 W Washington Boulevard by Triad Consortium
4531 W Washington Boulevard | West Garfield Park | $9.6 Million in Funds
This new construction project is being developed by CARE Manor and National Equity Fund, with Triad Consortium LTC working on its design. The building itself will rise three-stories tall and replace an existing surface lot. The U-shaped building will have units along the street front with a 21-vehicle parking lot at its center accessed from the alley.
Site plan of 4531 W Washington Boulevard by Triad Consortium
Elevations of 4531 W Washington Boulevard by Triad Consortium
The building will contain 44-residential units in total made up of one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts. These will be available in tiers for those making 15 to 60 percent AMI. With a total cost of $35.4 million, the project has been fully approved along with its $1 land sale. This was largely funded by TIF funds and tax credits. A completion timeline is unknown.
With City Council approval, the funds are ready to be distributed. However it is worth noting that City Council approval is only needed if the funds exceed $5 million.
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I’m wondering who will manage these housing projects? Will it be the Chicago Housing Authority again? Sounds like trouble brewing in 10-20 years from now.
Pls, i need an application
You can apply through Mercy Housing here: https://mercyhousingblog.org/find-housing/
A fresh pair of unbelievable extravagance with public funds.
1801 S. Wabash: a fairly new building of “micro-units”. The renovation budget comes to $540,000 per unit. For “micro-units”. This at a time when privately financed developments seem able to build an entire new building of apartments at a bit over $300k per unit. And this is only a renovation of a relatively new building. This one feels like outright fraud.
4531 W. Washington: a new build of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. The average is probably about a one and a half bedroom unit. At a mere $804,000 per unit. Oh, and the land was donated by the city, so that cost figure is low. Another flaming waste of taxpayer funds.
The city is utterly incompetent to fund these kinds of projects. The extravagance and waste in these projects is dramatically reducing the number of units the city could fund. It seems hard to believe that our city’s leaders keep doing this, but there they go.
I mean, can you expect anything else from the guy who wasn’t paying his utility bills for years?
I wish JB could kick BJ out of office.