In late July, an excited crowd gathered in Woodlawn to celebrate the groundbreaking of Trianon Lofts. The project will include 24 two-bedroom apartments and provide 7,000 square feet of commercial space. Over half of the apartments will be reserved for families earning 80-120% of the area median income, the others will be market rate, and the commercial space will be rented by a daycare center.
(from left) Wendell Harris (Director of Lending Operations, CCLF), Derek Douglas (Vice President for Civic Engagement, University of Chicago), Garrett Murdoch (Vice President of Community Development Banking, JPMorgan Chase), Pamela Daniels-Halisi (Managing Director of Community Development, BMO Harris), Calvin L. Holmes (President, CCLF), Alderman Willie Cochran (20th Ward), Antonio Riley (Regional Administrator, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), Aaron Gornstein (President and CEO, Preservation of Affordable Housing), Andrea Zopp (Deputy Mayor), Senator Mattie Hunter, Yolanda Wofford (Lala’s Land of Learning), and Maurice Williams (Vice President of Economic Development, CCLF) break ground at Trianon Lofts
20th Ward Alderman Willie Cochran and Antonio Riley, Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), joined other community leaders in praising the hard work it took from many community members and leaders to make this project a reality. Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp remarked that projects like Trianon Lofts are “creating a new world of opportunities and possibilities for the neighborhood.” The Lofts are a part of a wave of revitalization to the Woodlawn community, which includes the construction of hundreds of affordable housing units and creation of new jobs. Woodlawn will also neighbor the Obama Presidential Library, which will be constructed just under a mile and a half east of Trianon Lofts in Jackson Park.
Aaron Gornstein, President and CEO of Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), thanked CCLF for supporting the project, along with local leaders and partners BMO Harris, JP Morgan Chase, HUD, LISC Chicago, University of Chicago, Congressman Bobby Rush and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. CCLF supported Trianon Lofts with a $5 million New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation. This project was the first implementation of the $15 million in NMTC’s that CCLF received from the CDFI Fund in 2014.
“CCLF commenced our commitment to the Woodlawn community in 1993 with what was our first approved loan after our inception,” explained Calvin L. Holmes, President of CCLF. “Since then we have partnered with 12 non-profit and for-profit organizations by lending over $11.5M, leveraging an additional $48M and supporting the creation of 692 units of housing, 67 jobs and 96,120 square feet of community facilities or commercial retail space. We are pleased to add NMTCs as another investment tool in our collective action with local partners to restore Woodlawn.”