Friday, June 12, 2020

Affordable Senior Housing Proposed For 835 W. Wilson


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Brinshore Development's proposal for 835 W. Wilson (Landon Bone Baker Architects)

Current vacant lot at 835 W. Wilson (Google)

This morning, we woke to good news regarding a long vacant Uptown lot.  

Ald. Cappleman shared a proposal last night on his development page that hopes to fill the empty lot at 835 W. Wilson with affordable housing for seniors.

Brinshore Development, the developer working with Sarah's Circle and Ald. Cappleman on the $17,500,000 affordable housing/women's shelter now under construction at Sheridan & Leland, plans a 6 story building with a total of 73 rental units designated for seniors over 62. The building is being designed by Landon Bone Baker Architects, a firm that specializes in affordable developments.

Brinshore is seeking a zoning change for the project and proposes no ground-level retail along Wilson.  The building has a total of 44 parking spaces, with a new curb cut off of Wilson Avenue.

Clarendon Park Neighbors Association will review the proposal and share their feedback with Ald. Cappleman and the developer.

Total cost of the project is $26,000,000.

According to the developer application, Brinshore is hoping to receive funding from the Illinois Housing and Development Authority in the form of tax credits and Housing Trust Fund funds.

UU Note: This site was once home to "The Clarendon Beach Apartments." 


4 comments:

  1. This has been in the planning stages for a couple of years, as was Sarah's Circle which is now quickly coming along. The task of building more affordable housing for people earning 30% or less of the Area Median Income is monumental; so this news is REALLY exciting.

    In Chicago, the cost to build one affordable unit is typically around $350,000, but in other parts of the country, it’s much more expensive. In San Francisco, the average cost per one affordable unit is $750,000. It takes a lot of work to jump through all the necessary hurdles to get a loan to build affordable housing, much more so than for market rate housing which is typically built for half the cost. For both affordable and market rate developments, if a lender sees a project as too great of a risk based on their pro forma analysis, a loan simply won't happen, and housing won’t get built. Affordable housing often has several lending institutions involved, which really complicates the process and adds to the costs. 



    In the last 5 years, violent crime has hit an all time low, and a new Wilson L has come in. The good news is that all residents benefit with a safer community with great mass transit. The bad news is that it made Uptown much more attractive for other people to move here, thereby creating a huge demand for more rental housing, including the demand for market rate. That is the primary driver for increased rents. Given the minimal difference in cost to build luxury units versus non-luxury units, many lending institutions are requiring market rate developers to have a certain price point for rents before they will grant them a loan… thus the reason why developers are building apartments with so many amenities; they do it so that they can meet the requirement of their lender.

    So any affordable housing that gets built under today’s circumstances is really something to celebrate. I can’t wait for this groundbreaking!!!

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  2. Where and when are applications being taken? This is great news!

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  3. ALRIGHT!! ....Let's get it built!! ....Although based on it's rendering, that IS one YOUGLY looking building!! ;-(

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  4. I agree. Great idea and accompaniment. But does have to be such an ugly...UGLY building?????

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