FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHS Applies for Funding Required to Demolish and Replace Lincoln Homes
Date: February 28, 2018
From: Community Housing Services (CHS)
Contact: Gail Riggins, Public Relations
Coordinator Phone: 309.269.1120
Email: GailaRiggins@gmail.com
Community Housing Services (CHS), the non-profit affiliate of Rock Island Housing (RIHA) submitted a Preliminary Project Assessment Application to the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) in January 2018 to demolish and replace Lincoln Homes. The preliminary application was approved and CHS was invited to submit an application for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding in late February. The LIHTC application is due in early March. While competition is fierce, CHS is optimistic that the project will be funded; notification is anticipated early this summer.
According to Susan Anderson, CEO for CHS and Executive Director for RIHA, “The redevelopment of Lincoln Homes has been an important goal for us for a long time. The competition for funding will be fierce, but we are excited and hopeful that the project will be approved.”
The proposed redevelopment converts the 65-year old obsolete public housing property into a single-family-row house community comprised of forty-six homes. The new homes will feature 1, 2, 3, and 4-bedrooms, granite countertops, energy star stainless kitchen appliances, washer and dryer, luxury vinyl plank floors and window treatments incorporating environmental and engineering components to achieve a Green Certification.
“As a board member, and more importantly, as a resident of Rock Island,” states CHS Board Chairman, David Emerick, “I’m very proud of RIHA and CHS and the work they have done and the investments they have made in our neighborhoods. The demolition and redevelopment of Lincoln Homes compliments previous New Old Chicago revitalization efforts and will help encourage new private sector residential and commercial development.”
Lincoln Homes is in the community heart of the New Old Chicago neighborhood; adjacent to community anchors including the Martin Luther King Community Center, a community park, Second Baptist Church, Douglas Park Place and the New Old Chicago Redevelopment
Subdivision. The Lincoln Homes redevelopment will provide a more neighborhood-friendly arrangement and enhance the walkability of the neighborhood furthering the positive momentum that previous redevelopment efforts have created in the west-end community. The Lincoln Homes redevelopment represents an $11.6 million investment in the neighborhood bringing the combined investment of RIHA and CHS to nearly $70 million in new development and redevelopment activities within the City of Rock Island. Should funding be approved, the project will begin in late 2018 and take up to eighteen months to complete.
For additional detail, please see the attached information.