1st apartment building ready for bid via Sweet Home Chicago’s TIF building rehab ordinance

Sweet Home Chicago has taken the next major step in implementation of its key legislation, with bids being solicited for the first residential project under Chicago’s TIF Vacant Building Purchase & Rehab ordinance.

A developers’ bid package has been released for a West Side apartment building with 26 one- and two-bedroom units, located at 18th Street and South Komensky.

The apartment building lies within the Ogden/Pulaski tax-increment financing (TIF) district, from which $1 million has been allocated by the City Council for rehab projects within the district. 

Developers can bid to purchase the building from the Community Investment Corporation, a non-profit that will administer the program for the city. Under the supervision of CIC, up to 50% of rehab expenses can be recovered from the TIF allocation.

Sweet Home Chicago has a commitment from Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development to work together to expand the program into five more TIF districts by the end of 2013.

Sweet Home Chicago Coalition has worked with the city housing officials on implementation of the ordinance, identifying eligible TIF districts and helping amend the original 2011 ordinance last July so that – among other things – it no longer requires that tenants be vacated from a building for it to be eligible for funding.

The TIF building ordinance facilitates creation of rental housing that is affordable to low-wage households that earn less than $37,700 per year.

CCH is managing partner of the Sweet Home Chicago Coalition. Other current members are Action Now, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., Community Renewal Society, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Organization of the NorthEast (ONE), SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana, and Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP).