“Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Community Investment Corp. are set to announce today a $330 million lending commitment for private landlords to buy and rehab up to 7,000 units of affordable housing on Chicago’s South and West sides.
“‘This new investment will not only create and preserve affordable rental opportunities but also increase access to credit for entrepreneurs and small-business owners who are committed to neighborhood development on the South and West sides,’ the city said in a press release.
“Forty Chicago-area banks are participating in the program. They are expected to finance affordable units in as many as 400 buildings over the next five years.
“The city’s partner, Community Investment, is a community development financial institution that finances the purchase, rehab and preservation of affordable housing and also offers property management training and energy retrofitting.
The goal of the loan pool is to ‘counter the historic disinvestment in many Chicago communities” with private dollars, CIC CEO Jack Markowski said. “When we say affordable housing here, we’re not talking about public housing redevelopments, we’re not talking about low-income housing tax credits or other developments built with large public subsidies. Instead we’re talking about what’s called naturally occurring affordable housing” that’s privately owned and financed. “This type of housing actually accounts for 75 percent of the affordable rental housing in Chicago and across the country.’ (Quig, 9/3/20)
Read the full story at Crain’s Chicago Business
$330 million loan pool to fund affordable housing on South, West sides
The latest rollout under the banner of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West program is expected to help rehab or buy 7,000 units over the next five years, A.D. Quiq, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/3/20
