On a beautiful Tuesday morning in early June, local community developers, and those considering community development, came together at Little Black Pearl Art and Design Academy in Kenwood for a lunch and learn about the Chicago Neighborhood ReBuild (ReBuild) program hosted by Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) along with partners Chicago Department of Housing and the Cook County Land Bank Authority (Land Bank).
The mission of the ReBuild program is to restore vacant properties and to employ at-risk youth and ex-offenders. To date, 414 opportunity youth and ex-offenders have received employment related services that include hard-and-soft-skills training and job placement. CCLF is the administrator of the program, the City of Chicago funds the program and the Land Bank helps identify properties developers can rehab and put back on the market .
This collaboration was formed to facilitate the acquisition and rehabilitation of vacant properties and thereby develop communities that have been neglected. It started in three high crime Chicago areas, the 7th, 10th and 11th Chicago Police Districts, and has expanded to other neighborhoods to help bolster housing development on both the west and south sides of Chicago through its property acquisition partners, the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Community Investment Corporation (CIC) and Personal Investment Corporation. The ReBuild program also strategically leverages the Department of Housing’s Micro Market Recovery Program by utilizing neighborhood data collected by each of the 11 delegated agencies to identify local rehab opportunities, access down payment assistance and energy efficiency resources for new home buyers. This program also was designed to attract local developers who previously were not given the guidance and assistance they now find in the ReBuild program.
Developers who participate in ReBuild will gain the following benefits:
· Lower property acquisition costs creating a profit upon the sale of the property.
· Low-cost, low equity financing (CCLF is offering construction loans at 5% for this program).
· Assistance in building relationships with the City of Chicago.
· Other resources that will reduce rehab costs .
The program kicked off with a CCLF-produced video showcasing the ReBuild program in action and highlighting workforce development partners CARA, 1 City United and Firehouse Community Arts Center and the difference they are making in the community. CCLF President, Calvin Holmes, welcomed the audience and highlighted the purpose and vision of the ReBuild program. “Neighborhood revitalization is hard work that can’t be done effectively alone. It takes a team and not just any team,” he explains. “It has to consist of a dedicated group of individuals committed to thinking outside the box and developing solutions that solve real problems.”
Chicago Department of Housing Commissioner (DOH), Marisa Novara and Assistant Commissioner, Will Edwards, discussed their department’s commitment to the program and to pledge DOH’s ongoing support. Elisha Sanders from Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) also pledged continued support of the program.
This was the first in a series of programs and workshops that CCLF will host to convene a network of interconnected community development practitioners to discuss opportunities and develop strategies that tackle challenges and prepare local developers who have been historically left out to be better equipped to rehab 1–4-unit properties.
“The ReBuild Lunch and Learn provided an opportunity for developers to network with one another and connect with the Department of Housing, CCLF, the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Cara and other critical program partners to build their knowledge, experience and comfort levels in utilizing the full benefits of ReBuild to maximize their community impact and development success,” explains David Feinberg, Director of Coaching and Knowledge Transfer at CCLF.
This event allowed those developers who currently are participating in the ReBuild program to share their experiences and learnings such as Levar Love who was accepted into program in 2020 just when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. For those contemplating joining the program,
Love said, “You have to be passionate about doing a service for the community and giving back to the community. Because if this is solely about just making a dollar in real estate, this is not the program for you. It’s not. I can make more money doing the stuff that I was doing four years ago. I just could. This program is about doing what I love and giving back to the community at the same time.”
Love added, “What I realized was, four years ago I did a project in [the western suburbs] … but I never got on the phone with an alderman. I never talked to an MMRP (Micro Market Recovery Program) coordinator. I never got a chance to build a real relationship with someone like Mr. Edwards, at the city. That, to me, makes it feel truly collaborative, and it makes me feel like a community developer. What I was doing before, I just felt like I was a guy in real estate doing some flips, making some money.”
“Today, when I talk to my friends and they’re like, ‘You still in real estate?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but now I’m a local community developer.’ So, the properties that I work on are specifically tied to the city’s plan , Invest South/West. So it’s tied to the initiative to move these neighborhoods forward. There’s just an overarching theme and positive energy around what’s going on with the projects that I work on.” Love’s concluded, “If I can help another developer make the decision to come on board the Neighborhood ReBuild, then it’s worth it. It’s me giving back as much as the program has given to me.”
Sean Harden and Darryl Flenoy of CCLF, who play integral roles in the ReBuild program, answered questions and helped the audience understand the benefits of the program. They plan to host more Lunch and Learn events in the future.
Lunch and Learn
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
CCLF offers lending with technical assistance to support its borrowers and recruit more developers working in the communities served by CCLF. These are some of the upcoming CCLF workshops:
- Chicago Neighborhood ReBuild Program Lunch and Learn – August 15
- Artists Cooperative- August
- Community Development in Today’s Economy – August
- Reclaiming Vacant Properties Mobile Workshop- September
- Reclaiming Vacant Properties Bike Tour – September
- Access to Capital and Prepping for Underwriting- September/October
- Center for Shared Ownership Summit – October
Visit https://cclfchicago.org/assistance/ for more information on the ReBuild Program and information on available workshops.