After more than 50 years, the Woodlawn community is looking forward to the construction of its first predominantly market rate rental housing. The City of Chicago Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp joined Ald. Willie Cochran and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) representatives to celebrate the ground breaking for Trianon Lofts.
Located at the corner of 61st and Cottage Grove, the apartment building will have 24 two- bedroom apartments and provide 7,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Thirteen of the apartments will be reserved for those earning between 80 to 120 percent of area median income – as low as $49,200 for a family of two.
“The City of Chicago is committed to building stronger, safer and more sustainable communities with greater housing and economic opportunities,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “This groundbreaking represents a new future not only for residents and businesses in the Woodlawn neighborhood but across the entire city.”
Part of the City and POAH’s Choice Neighborhoods Partnership for the redevelopment of the former Grove Parc apartments, the building is named for the Trianon Ballroom, which was located nearby and demolished in 1967. The building is located directly across from MetroSquash’s new recreation and education facility and adjacent to the University of Chicago’s Medical Center campus.
“We couldn’t be more excited to help build a stronger, healthier Woodlawn,” said Aaron Gornstein, President and CEO of POAH. “This is because the involvement and partnership of neighborhood organizations, government agencies, financial and educational institutions, civic leaders, developers and the community. Woodlawn is a perfect example of how distressed urban neighborhoods can be re-designed to become communities of choice,” Gornstein added.
The Trianon Lofts add further momentum to Woodlawn’s ongoing renaissance. Since POAH and the City of Chicago were awarded a $30.5 million Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant in 2011, five new buildings and nearly 800 new units of affordable housing have been constructed along the Cottage Grove Corridor, and 120 new jobs have been created.
Besides new and renovated housing, a wide range of retailers, community learning facilities and a cultural center have opened their doors throughout the neighborhood in recent years. Once Trianon is completed in mid-2017, Lala’s Land of Learning, a daycare center, will open a new location occupying a portion of the building’s new commercial space.
Woodlawn is conveniently located between the University of Chicago and the end of the CTA’s Green Line. The neighborhood is minutes from the future home of the Obama Presidential Library.
The Trianon Lofts is being developed by POAH and with financing from: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; City of Chicago; Chicago Community loan Fund (CCLF); Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC); JP Morgan Chase Bank; and BMO Harris.
Project financing includes a $2.5 million City loan, $3.3 million in New Markets Tax Credit equity,
$3.3 million in HUD Choice Grant funds and a $3 million private construction loan.
To learn more about leasing opportunities at Trianon Lofts and the Woodlawn community visit www.poahchicago.org.
About POAH:
POAH is a mission-driven affordable housing nonprofit with offices in Chicago and Boston. POAH’S mission is to preserve and steward affordable rental housing to provide stability, hope and economic security to low-to-moderate income families. POAH owns and operates approximately 9,000 affordable homes at more than 80 properties in nine states and the District of Columbia.
