Most recently, Senior Housing Corp., an affiliate of Catholic Charities, received a necessary recommendation from the city council's committee on zoning Wednesday to allow for construction of 13 additional multifamily units at the southwest corner of Racine Avenue and Marquette Boulevard in the Englewood neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Senior Lifestyles Corp. remains one of the most prolific developers in the city. The company broke ground last week on an $11-million Senior Suites of West Humboldt Park at 701 N. Lawndale Ave. The building is the twelfth to be constructed by the company, which also has a few other projects in early stages of development around the city.
Senior Lifestyles Corp. developed its "Senior Suites" concept in response to a challenge about 10 years ago from Mayor Richard M. Daley, who urged developers to build more affordable rental units for senior citizens. The challenge has been backed up with money, even though Harris Trust & Savings Bank is a lender. In the case of Senior Suites of West Humboldt Park, the city department of housing is bringing $4.9 million in HOME funds to the table while the sale of low-income housing tax credits are expected to generate $5.5 million in equity. In addition, the Affordable Rents for Chicago program will provide long-term assistance to the 88-unit project, with 10 units set aside for seniors with very low incomes.
Agendas for the city's plan commission and community development commission have been relatively light in the last two months, and this week's zoning committee business was done in near record time. Besides economic doldrums, another reason mentioned privately is aldermen facing contests in next Tuesday's elections have been deferring potentially controversial development and zoning matters.
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