Chicago Housing Authority's Plan for Transformation

The General Board has been investing in affordable housing and community development projects since 1990. Since that time, our investments have been used to create a variety of community projects in cities large and small throughout the United States. We have created community health centers in San Francisco and Oakland, California; homeless and transitional housing centers in New York City; and affordable housing throughout the South. Some of the investments we are most proud of, however, are right in our back yard in Chicago.

Starting in 2004, the General Board has been able to participate in the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation, a blueprint to reshape the face of Chicago ’s public housing stock and the largest redevelopment of public housing in the nation’s history. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is the city organization charged with managing Chicago’s 25,000 public housing units—subsidized affordable housing for lower-income individuals, families and seniors. While the CHA has provided basic housing for these groups of citizens for many years, these “projects” have suffered from years of neglect and high crime rates. With the assistance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI Program, a federal program providing grants and other services to improve the condition, management and community services of existing public housing projects, the CHA is working to change this image and revitalize its public housing units at a cost of more than $1.4 billion. Through three intermediaries—the Community Investment Corporation, Enterprise Community Investments, and the Community Reinvestment Fund—the General Board has committed more than $22 million to four of the CHA’s transformation projects that will “transform” old and isolated public housing into more modern and vibrant mixed-income communities.

Roosevelt Square

Roosevelt Square apartment building

Located on the near southwest side of Chicago, Roosevelt Square when completed will include more than 2,400 units of public, affordable and market-rate housing in a variety of building types. The project will replace several low-and mid-rise housing “projects” that dotted the community. The recently completed Phase 1 which cost $49 million, and consists of public and affordable rental units and affordable and market-rate for-sale units. The General Board has invested nearly $2 million in the project through the Community Investment Corporation. The investment was used to create 127 public housing units and 57 units of affordable housing.

Oakwood Shores

Before: Ida B. Wells Homes                                           After: Arches at Oakwood

The General Board has committed more than $7.5 million through two intermediaries to the Oakwood Shores (Phases 1A, 1B and 1C) and Arches at Oakwood development projects on the city’s south side. The $100 million project will be the first phase in redeveloping the Madden Park Homes, Ida B. Wells Homes and Clarence Darrow Homes housing projects into a mixed-income neighborhood. Once complete, the phases will include over 300 units of public and affordable rental housing and 129 units of affordable and market-rate for-sale housing. Through Enterprise Community Investments, the General Board has committed $5.3 million to build 112 units of public housing and 50 units of affordable housing. Through the Community Reinvestment Fund, the General Board has committed $2.2 million to build the 130 units of for-sale housing that will include 27 affordable units.

Jazz on the Boulevards

Jazz on the Boulevards townhomes

Jazz on the Boulevards is the name given to a phase of the redevelopment that will replace the Lake Michigan Homes on Chicago ’s south side. The $80 million project will include the construction of 441 public and affordable housing rental units and over 200 units of for-sale housing just steps away from Lake Michigan. Through The Community Reinvestment Fund, the General Board has invested $1.5 million in the Jazz on the Boulevards phase that was used to build 99 units of for-sale housing and 38 units of rental housing. The fully constructed project is in the process of selling off its remaining 24 units.

Westhaven Park

Low-rise apartment building in Westhaven Park

On the near west side of the city, the General Board has committed $1.5 million to the redevelopment of the Henry Horner Homes housing complex. Through a partnership with the Community Reinvestment Fund, the General Board’s investment will construct 113 units of affordable and market-rate for-sale housing, including 34 public housing units.

Changing the Face of Affordable Housing

The General Board has been privileged to participate in the CHA project with three of our intermediaries. As the pictures above show, the face of affordable housing is changing. Design plays such an important role in making a place feel like home. The new housing developments created by the CHA's Plan for Transformation prove that high-quality housing is a luxury that can be enjoyed by individuals at any income level.

Posted March 2008