Cook County Finances 16 New Affordable Housing Units In Skokie

SKOKIE, IL — The Cook County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved funding for three new affordable housing products, including one for an Evanston-based nonprofit to build 16 permanent supportive housing units in Skokie.

Commissioners signed off on a loan in the amount of $600,000, with an interest rate of 1 percent and a 30-year term, for Impact Behavioral Health Partners to develop an $8 million project at the corner of Floral Avenue and Brown Street.

The loan is part of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department's HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the largest federal block grant program designed to produce affordable housing for low-income households.

“Cook County is proud to provide HOME Investment Loan funding to the development of these important and essential affordable housing projects,” Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement after the vote. “The demand for this type of housing represents a need that we must continue to address until everyone has a safe and affordable place to live.”

The current building at 8047 Floral Ave., a single-family home with a detached garage, has previously been used as offices for a law firm, but it is currently vacant, according to county staff.

Staff said the proposed new construction residential development at 8047 Floral Ave. would be a three-story, nearly 18,000-square-foot building.

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The ground floor would have two offices, a community room and a small retail component, while the second and third floors would have 16 units, averaging at about 525 square feet, which would be affordable to people with 30 percent or less of the area median income.

"The development is fully approved and is awaiting permit issuance," village spokesperson Ann Tennes told Patch in an email.

"After the Appearance Commission approved the architectural elevations, they submitted for a building permit," Tennes said. "They are just a few steps from receiving the building permit."

Tennes said project meets minimum zoning standards for its zoning district and is located on a parcel smaller than 1 acre, so a full site plan review was not required.

Impact Behavioral Health, which currently houses 60 low-income tenants in various locations, will provide on-site supportive services, and people will mental health and developmental disabilities will be given a preference when applying to live there, according to a Cook County staff memo.

According to property records, Kathryn Novello and Susan Reynolds, each acting as trustees representing ownership of half the property, sold it to Redwood City, California-based Equinix Impact LLC for $795,000.

Then, in July 2020, Equinix transferred ownership to Impact Floral LLC, which operates the housing nonprofit, founded in 1988 as Housing Options for the Mentally Ill Evanston.

Xochitl Flores, chief of the county's economic development bureau, said in a statement that projects like the Skokie plan, and two other affordable housing projects in Arlington Heights for which commissioners also approved loans, have been able to leverage more than $35 million in additional public and private investment.

“The pandemic has exacerbated the affordable housing and homelessness crisis in Cook County,” Flores said. “And a lack of affordable housing remains a barrier to the health, safety, well-being, employment and education of residents and families."