HBAGC The Case for Private Affordable Housing Initiatives

Promoting Progressive Policiesfor a promising future

DPDCHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

Affordable housing impacts every aspect of the local economy.

• EmploymentEmployment• Consumer spendingConsumer spending• Small businessSmall business• Property taxesProperty taxes• Sales taxesSales taxes• DiversityDiversity

• EmploymentEmployment• Consumer spendingConsumer spending• Small businessSmall business• Property taxesProperty taxes• Sales taxesSales taxes• DiversityDiversity

• Population shiftsPopulation shifts• Federal fundingFederal funding• Public servicesPublic services• EducationEducation• Health careHealth care• Crime preventionCrime prevention

• Population shiftsPopulation shifts• Federal fundingFederal funding• Public servicesPublic services• EducationEducation• Health careHealth care• Crime preventionCrime prevention

Despite best intentions, subsidized development costs are out of control.

New Construction*

>$350,000Rehab**

$418,035

* City of Chicago—Bouncing Back: Five Year Housing Plan 2014 – 2018

** Chicago Rehab Network—Accepting the Challenge: Five Year Affordable Housing Plan, 2009 - 2013

Unit Cost

“These high costs make the construction of affordable housing extremely difficult to achieve at the

necessary scale.”

--City of Chicago Bouncing Back: 2014 – 2018 Five Year Housing Report

(page 27, section 4.5)

The cost of disinvestment is exponential, and impacts everyone.

• Dozens of projects cancelled

• Thousands of affordable units lost or not available for families who need them

• 57 of 77 Chicago neighborhoods lost population over the last 10 years

• Englewood, Little Village, Pilsen and Logan Square lost between 8,000 and 12,000 residents each

• Lost development fees, sales taxes, property taxes, federal funding and rental subsidies

In collaboration, we can create private, structural solutions for

Chicagoland’s affordable housing challenge.

After all, 75% “of all affordable rental housing is provided by non-subsidized

operators.”--Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University

Private sector solutions free public resources to be applied where they’re most impactful.

Diverse, healthy communities = better performing investments.

But private solutions require institutional investment.

And institutions have minimum performance thresholds for investment.

So let’s map out a plan that serves the interests of all stakeholders.

Together we can leverage a recovering economy and build a Chicago that works for everyone.

DPDCHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT