Cook County Board Approves $9 Million in Loans for Affordable Housing

Funds to be invested in affordable housing projects in Ford Heights, Hines, LaGrange, and Park Forest Construction and/or rehabilitation is anticipated this year on four projects to develop affordable housing as a result of loans totaling $9 million from Cook County's HOME Investment Partnership Program.

The projects, whose loans were approved by the County Board today, will yield 311 units of affordable housing. Development of affordable housing is a key initiative of my administration, said Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle.

The need for affordable housing in the region is great and far exceeds our current stock. I am very pleased to see these projects moving forward.

Highlights of the four projects are:

• Ford Heights -- The Ford Heights Cooperative will receive a $3.2 million loan to support Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) project costs incurred during the renovation of a 100 unit single-family rental cooperative project. Six of the units will be demolished due to flood damage and 94 will be rehabilitated, including flood mitigation work. A rain garden will be added to the property to further mitigate flooding.
• Hines -- Freedom Path II will receive a $2 million loan to support CDBG-DR project costs of more than $13 million related to the construction of 52 new units of multi-family rental housing targeting veterans and their families.
• LaGrange -- BEDS Plus Care, Inc. will receive a $1.3 million loan to be utilized to support CDBG-DR project costs of more than $6.2 million incurred during the new construction of 20 units of permanent housing for chronically homeless individuals. A social service component will be part of this development.
• Park Forest -- Related Affordable, Inc. will receive a $2.5 Million loan which is part of the total development costs of $20.6 million to rehabilitate 145 units of multi-family rental housing. This project is geared towards seniors, disabled persons and low-income families.

In addition to these investments, an additional 950 units of affordable housing are currently under construction in suburban Cook County. Since taking office in 2011, the Preckwinkle administration has invested $16.3 Million in Cook County through the HOME Investment Partnership Program, leveraging $96.8 Million in private funding. These projects have yielded 500 units of affordable housing.