By LORRAINE SWANSON
Editor
850 W. Eastwood
Mercy Housing Lakefront, the Chicago affiliate of a national organization that develops and manages housing for low-income seniors, families and individuals with special needs, has acquired the 16-story HUD building at 850 W. Eastwood Ave. in Uptown.
The latest acquisition is part of Mercy Housing Lakefront’s preservation initiative to rehab and preserve over 500 units of affordable housing over the next five years. The housing organization acquired the building from the Chicago Community Development Corporation.
Mercy is planning an extensive rehab of the 850 building along with the Harold Washington Apartments at 4946 N. Sheridan Road.
The Chicago Community Development Commission granted Mercy authority to become the “developer” of the 850 building and approved $3 million in funds from the Wilson Yard TIF to be spent on the rehab at its regular monthly meeting on Jan. 12.
Funding for the acquisition of the 850 building and rehabbing of both buildings is $61. 3 million. It was financed through multiple sources, including $46.7 million in private financing and federal tax credits, $8.9 million in federal money funneled through the Chicago Department of Community Development and HUD, and $2.6 million in state funding, in addition to TIF money.
No TIF money is being used for the rehab of the Harold Washington Apartments.
Mercy Housing Lakefront Public Affairs Director Lisa Kuklinski said that housing organization acquired the 850 building because the former owners Dan Burke and Anthony Fusco, who is listed as the sole officer of the Chicago Community Development Corporation on the CCDC website, wanted to retire. Mercy has been working on acquiring the building for the past year.
“They wanted to make sure the building was kept affordable as it is now,” Kuklinski said. “They looked for a non-profit organization, mission-based owner and thought of us because we were already present in the neighborhood and working on affordable housing in the area.”
The 850 building joins Mercy Housing Lakefront’s portfolio of affordable housing properties located throughout the city, including five buildings in Uptown and one in Lakeview. The building includes a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments spread out across 231 units.
Plumbing, heating and cooling systems will undergo a complete rehaul in the 850 building, including new lines for water and waste, fire safety systems, boilers and security cameras, and painting of the exterior façade. Units in the 850 building will be fitted with new kitchen cabinets and appliances, flooring, heating and air-conditioning systems and bathroom upgrades. Mercy Housing also plans to added 12 accessible and 35 adaptable units for disabled residents.
“No residents will be displaced because of the purchase,” Kuklinski said. “This is something different for Uptown not to displace residents or make rents unaffordable.”
The Harold Washington Apartments, once a hotel for show business folk in the 1920s, is in line for a new on-site laundry facility, community areas, a resident services and employment training center, and new resident courtyard. Private baths will be added to the building’s 69 units. Mercy Housing also plans to add an elevator to the building, since many of its original residents have aged in place since the Harold Washington was created by the Lakefront S.R.O. in 1989, before merging with Mercy Housing.
Residents in both buildings will be temporarily relocated or shifted to other units within the buildings as units and sections undergo renovation.
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So…after this building has received $3MM of real estate tax money , how much real estate tax will it be paying each year?
The two hell holes we already have -Carlton and Miriam- make this venture really sketchy. The Miriam’s history is really bad and only slightly improved after the community stepped in and demanded changes. Violations of city saftey codes continue. The drug dealing at the Carlton is a scandel in itself. Last summer a resident o. d. and layed in his room for a week. Residents complained about the smell but management did nothing. Finally someone called 911 and the police had the body removed.
God bless Helen Shiller for Pro-actively using the Wilson Yard TIF for the purpose of providing affordable housing !
I think uptown is turning into what the Projects where on State Street of years ago. All I am seeing is low income buildings with all the gangs and trouble that go right along with htem……..
I tried to get a 2 bedroom at Wilson and was denied because I made too much money — in the mid 30s. Afterward I wrote the alderman and Senator that it looks like they truly wants “poor” people in these new buildings if they think that mid-30s was “too much” money; when you factor in transportation, food, utilities, it’s not a lot of money.
A better way to build these new developments is to have a “mixture” — low income, mid-income and maybe even high income. If you have a building where the ceiling is $31,000 and below, you’re asking only the truly struggling and poor to populate these buildings.
January 18, 2010
“Mercy Housing Lakefront Public Affairs Director Lisa Kuklinski said that housing organization acquired the 850 building because the former owners Dan Burke and Anthony Fusco, who is listed as the sole officer of the Chicago Community Development Corporation on the CCDC website, wanted to retire. Mercy has been working on acquiring the building for the past year”.”
February 9, 2010
CCDC to be developers of the new $4.2 million Wilson-TIF funded redevelopment of the Clifton-Magnolia Apartments.
So, it looks like Tony isn’t retiring after all. But, it did throw the press and community off his trail for awhile.