Lake Forest will receive state tax credits to help finance the construction of 12 new cottages for local senior citizens.
The city was one of eight Illinois communities to have its applications approved by the state Housing Development Authority board at its June meeting, according to department spokesman Andrew Field.
The city intends to use the tax credits as part of a financing plan to construct 12 cottages at the northwest corner of Everett and Telegraph roads, near the west side Metra station. The new units would be located near five existing cottages that opened in 2001.
City officials have considered building additional cottages for many years, but financing the project has been a challenge, according to Community Development Director Catherine Czerniak.
“This project has hit a number of obstacles, but I am very pleased that we received those tax credits, and that is what we needed to move this project forward,” she said.
Preliminary designs call for duplex-style cottages of about 1,200 square feet with one or two bedrooms on a 2.3-acre parcel that would help fund housing for residents at least 62 years old who qualify for affordable housing programs.
Field said the state compiles a list every five years of communities with more than 1,000 residents and an affordable housing stock of less than 10%. Lake Forest’s affordable housing stock currently stands at 5.8%.
“There is always a drive to see more preservation and creation in these communities. Seeing the city and developers trying to create more opportunities in these more affluent areas — especially up on the North Shore — we certainly like to see that,” he said.
The tax credits awarded to Lake Forest have an estimated value of $3.3 million, according to Czerniak. She said the city expects to receive about 91 cents on the dollar for the tax credits, which must then be sold to a qualified buyer.
Earlier this year, Czerniak said the tax credits were expected to total about $2.4 million, but the amount increased following an updated appraisal of the property.
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Earlier this year, Mayor Stanford Tack approved a land donation agreement transferring the property to Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH), the city’s partner on the project, contingent on securing the necessary funding.
CPAH President Rob Anthony estimated the total cost of building the 12 cottages at $7.8 million.
Czerniak said the city still needs to raise an additional $1.9 million to fully fund construction of the cottages.
As part of the application process, the City Council tentatively approved using $1 million from the housing trust fund. Czerniak said additional requests could be made to draw from that fund.
She also said the city is expected to receive a $700,000 grant from Lake County and $450,000 from the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Senior Citizens Foundation. Officials may also seek funding from those organizations as well as local private foundations.
Because Lake Bluff residents could also live in the cottages, Lake Forest is pursuing funding support from Lake Bluff. The Lake Bluff Village Board discussed the proposal at a June Finance Committee meeting and is scheduled to take it up again at its Aug. 10 meeting, according to Village Administrator Drew Irvin.
Czerniak said she hopes the remaining funding can be secured so infrastructure work can begin, followed by construction sometime next year.
“We’ve never been closer,” she said.