Affordable housing nonprofit teams up with Mt. Pisgah Ministry to propose affordable housing for Evanston’s 5th Ward

Developers of a new 44 unit affordable housing complex in Evanston are looking for approval to move forward.

The project has been proposed by a partnership between Mt. Pisgah Missionary and Housing Opportunity Development Company, a nonprofit founded in 1983 by North Shore Interfaith Housing Council, and the North Suburban Housing Center to preserve and increase affordable housing in Chicago’s northern suburbs.

Plans put the five-story apartment and retail space in the 1800 block of Church Street where Mt. Pisgah Ministry is currently located next to the abandoned lot that was previously home to a gas station. The city owns the lot, and when the church and nonprofit both reached out to the city for the space, a partnership formed.

Richard Koenig, executive director of Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, said that instead of fighting for the space, he and Mt. Pisgah Pastor Clifford Wilson saw an opportunity to serve residents in more ways than one.

With the partnership, the new two-story church would move to the corner of Church and Darrow and the complex would take over the space the church currently occupies in the center of the block. The bottom floor of the complex would be retail shops with four floors of apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms. Parking will be available underneath the complex with 46 total spaces.

Koenig said he plans to keep the building affordable in perpetuity with rents between $600 to $800 for one bedroom, $700 to $900 for two bedrooms and $900 to $1,100 for three bedrooms. Rents will increase some over time as costs increase but Koenig said it will never be in large increments.

Residents will be allowed to remain in the building if their income increases but rent will increase in response. Koenig said this would be to encourage those residents to move out and open the unit for someone that needs it.

“The idea is to not make it look like what someone has in their mind of what affordable housing or public housing (looks like).” he said. “A lot of people ... think Cabrini-Green. That’s not affordable housing anymore. We want to make it fit in, we want to make it beautiful.”

Leases will be available for one year with annual renewals, and renters at HODC properties stay on average for seven to eight years according to Koenig.

Developers and 5th Ward Alderperson Bobby Burns asked Housing and Urban Development to allow Evanston residents to have priority, though priority for specific renters is against federal fair housing laws to prevent discrimination. It has not been decided if this would include former residents that have already left the city and would like to return.

“When we develop the wait list anybody can apply from Wilmette, Chicago, Evanston, anywhere,” Koenig said. “The idea is if you’re from Evanston, you’d move above people that are not.”

There is also a focus on fair tenant selection. Koenig said instead of just looking at raw credit scores, HODC will look deeper into the reasoning behind scores.

“We don’t care what the score number is, we care why it is,” he said. “Did you just open up eight credit cards last year? Did you just get a bunch of new cellphones or did you have medical bills?”

Unlike other complexes the group manages, a HODC staff person will live in the building to serve as a go-between for residents and the property manager and provide a sense of security for residents.

The project is expected to cost $22 million to build with $18 million already covered. Koenig plans to request the remaining $4 million from the city.

HODC has several affordable housing properties across Chicagoland in Highland Park, Wilmette, Arlington Heights and Deerfield. The nonprofit also manages the units on Brummel in Evanston.

After the project is assessed by the Land Use Commission, it moves on to Planning and Development Committee and then to the Evanston City Council for final approval.

Keith Banks, executive director of local affordable housing developer Reba Place Development Corporation, said he is excited to see the project move forward even though 44 units won’t fix all of Evanston’s affordable housing problems.

“Over 7,000 units are needed in Evanston. That’s the demand,” he said. “More is needed so this project is necessary, it’s needed, it’s right on time.”

He worked for years with Evanston Community Development Corporation, another local affordable housing nonprofit, to try to develop the area and said it is long past overdue to give residents the chance to remain in the city.

Some residents expressed concern that the units won’t provide actual ownership for residents to build generational wealth but Banks said that option has become too expensive and doesn’t help nearly as many people as rentals can.

“I think that when you see them (the buildings) you will be very, very proud to be a part of this community,” Wilson said. “God has not failed us yet.”