Jefferson Park affordable housing project intended for households earning $25,000 to $75,000

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by BRIAN NADIG

The proposed affordable housing development at the southwest corner of Lawrence and Austin avenues in Jefferson Park would include two four-story buildings, a landscaped courtyard and a 34-space parking lot.

A recently released site plan and rendering from the project’s developer, Full Circle Communities, show the buildings situated along the northern half of the 48,000-square-foot parcel and separated by a landscaped courtyard. A total of 48 apartments are planned, and a community room would be among the on-site amenities for tenants.

Each building would be slightly less than 40 feet in height, and while the perspective indicated in the rendering shows one building taller than the other, they would be the same height, according to developer Joshua Wilmoth. He added that a nearby existing four-story building at 4732 N. Austin Ave. is taller than the proposed buildings in Full Circle’s development.

The parking lot would be located in the southern half of the parcel, with access from a driveway on Austin. Normally the city requires one parking space for each apartment, but the city permits a lower ratio for affordable housing developments.

Forty percent of the units would be set aside for households earning up to $75,000 a year (or 80 percent of the area’s median income), with the remainder of the apartments reserved for those earning between $25,000 and $60,000 a year. Monthly rents for the one-bedroom units reportedly would range between $475 and $1,300.

“The development will more than quadruple the real estate tax revenue of the long-vacated parcels, create numerous union construction jobs and several permanent positions, and will help offer an alternative choice to the more than 400 households on our ‘5150’ interest list (which is … almost all local, veterans and persons with a disability). We will offer preference for veterans and persons with disabilities who need an accessible unit near shopping and transportation,” Wilmoth said in an e-mail.

Full Circle also is the developer of the 75-unit, mixed-income housing development that is under construction at 5150 N. Northwest Hwy. That development sparked two lawsuits and several protests.

Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th) said that he has asked Full Circle to increase the amount of parking for the development at 6001-11 W. Lawrence Ave. The project does not require a zoning change, but its financing is contingent on the issuance of low-income housing tax credits, which the board of the Illinois Housing Development Authority is expected to approve at its Friday, July 17, meeting.

Sposato said that he plans to ask the board to delay its decision since the community has not had an opportunity to review the plans. He said that he first learned of the proposal on July 1 when contacted by Nadig Newspapers.

Wilmoth said that he recently met with Sposato and apologized for earlier miscommunications regarding the project.

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