New apartment buildings for low-income elderly will be built with funds from a $597 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money is spread among 43 states.
About $20.5 million has been earmarked for three Chicago-area projects, which, upon completion, will provide 148 new apartments.
Local projects include:
A 60-unit Chicago apartment building for seniors at 5000 S. Indiana Ave. to be built by the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
Renovation of the St. Brendan’s seniors-only apartment building at 6717 S. Elizabeth St., owned by Catholic Charities. Thirteen new units will be added to the building, among other changes.
A new 75-unit apartment building to be built at Mayslake Village, a seniors-only community in Oak Brook.
“This is wonderful,” said Bill D’Arcy, division manager of residential housing for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “We are hoping to create a senior campus in the West Englewood neighborhood where the elderly can get meals as well as participate in adult day programs.”
The projects are being funded by HUD grants from its Section 202 program.
The Housing Act of 1959, under Section 202, gives Congress the authority to fund the development of housing for low-income elderly.
The original program provided construction loans to non-profit groups. In 1991, rules were changed so loans, or grants, do not have to be repaid. However, all buildings subsidized by the 202 program must be available only for the elderly poor for 40 years.
Since 1991, the government has allocated about $4 billion through the 202 program for construction of housing for the low-income elderly. A portion of the grants helps subsidize apartment rents for five years.
HUD issued a report last year that said more than 7.4 million senior households pay more for housing than they can afford (defined as more than 30 percent of income).
Of the 20.9 million households headed by people 65 years old in 1997, 21 percent were renters, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging. The median family income of renters 65 and over was $10,867.
In order to be eligible to rent an apartment in a 202-subsidized building, seniors must meet local income guidelines. Seniors must have incomes less than 50 percent of the area’s median income. In the Chicago area, income must be less than approximately $19,000 a year.
Residents of the subsidized buildings pay 30 percent of their incomes as rent.
In the most recent round of grants, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago received $5.3 million for construction of a new apartment building adjacent to the Washington Park YMCA on Chicago’s South Side. HUD also awarded $927,000 to the project to help reduce building rents. Construction of the project probably will begin in early 2002.
In addition to 60 one-bedroom apartments, the new building will have a community room and computer library. Seniors receive a free membership in the YMCA, which has a swimming pool. Seniors can also take part in programs at the YMCA, including volunteer work. “What’s nice about the new apartments is that seniors won’t be isolated,” said Margaret Hoyt, director of real estate for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. “There are a lot of intergenerational programs and interaction with kids, teenagers and other adults at the YMCA.”
The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago already operates two senior housing projects, former Ys that were converted to apartments.
In a previous round of HUD grants, the group received approval to build a 60-unit seniors-only subsidized apartment building at 4 E. 111th St. The site is adjacent to an existing YMCA in the Roseland neighborhood. Upon completion of its two new projects, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago will have 340 units of housing for low-income elderly. The YMCA is also the largest provider of single-room-occupancy housing in the city, with 2,500 units.
Catholic Charities already operates 12 low-rent seniors-only buildings, a total of 930 apartments. Last summer, the group opened three new subsidized seniors-only buildings:
Bernardin Manor in south suburban Calumet City, with 180 apartments.
St. Ailbe Faith Apartments at 93rd Street and Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, with 77 apartments.
St. Sabina Elders Village at 79th Street and Racine Avenue, Chicago, with 80 apartments.
Catholic Charities received $5.7 million from the recent HUD grant to rehabilitate St. Brendan’s Apartments, a former Catholic school. HUD provided another $1 million for rent subsidies. Current residents of St. Brendan’s should receive a rent reduction once the building’s rehabilitation is complete, according to D’Arcy of Catholic Charities. A new floor with 13 apartments will be added atop the St. Brendan’s building. In addition, a connection will be built between St. Brendan’s and Hayes Manor, a seniors-only building across the alley.
The first-floor gym in the St. Brendan’s building will be converted to a multi-purpose room suitable for an adult day-services program. A small commercial kitchen will be built to provide noon-time meals for seniors.
“We will end up with a senior campus,” said D’Arcy.
He added that no resident will be displaced by the rehabilitation project. Residents will be offered places in other Catholic Charities’ buildings during the renovation process.
Waiting lists have not yet been established for any of the new projects. Developers will notify community groups and place ads in local newspapers when applications for apartments are being accepted.
Recognizing the desire of seniors to age in place and not move, the government also wants to provide assisted-living units for the low-income elderly. For fiscal year 2000, Congress has appropriated $50 million to convert some existing units in subsidized Section 202 buildings to assisted-living apartments.
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Jane Adler is a Chicago-area freelance writer. If you have questions or information regarding housing for senior citizens, write to Senior Housing c/o Chicago Tribune Real Estate Section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Or e-mail adler@corecomm.net
