BELLWOOD, Ill. — Evergreen Real Estate Group has completed Bellwood Senior Apartments, an 80-unit affordable seniors housing community in Bellwood, a western suburb of Chicago.
The $31.5 million project replaces a former Walgreens that had been vacant for nearly five years. The four-story development offers 76 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments for seniors age 62 or older with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Evergreen says the building is 40 percent leased and will reach full occupancy in the next few months.
“The robust interest we have already seen demonstrates the need for affordable seniors housing in Chicago’s western suburbs,” says David Block, director of development for Evergreen Real Estate Group, which is also managing the property.
“Bellwood Senior Apartments shows what is possible when an underutilized, vacant site is transformed into an asset that improves the quality of life for everyone in the community,” adds Kristin Faust, Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) executive director.
Bellwood Senior Apartments is less than a mile north of the Eisenhower Expressway, approximately a mile from the Melrose Park Metra station, served by the Union Pacific West Line, and close to bus routes that connect to the Forest Park Blue Line station.
Weese Langley Weese Architects designed the project. F.H. Paschen served as general contractor on the development.Financial partners for Bellwood Senior Apartments include IHDA as the tax credit issuer (both Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credits) and subordinate funds provider; the Village of Bellwood, which provided a TIF loan; Bank of America, which is the investor and construction loan lender; Hudson Housing Capital, which syndicated the tax credits; Cook County, which provided HOME funds; and the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program.