Mount Prospect Welcomes First Supportive Housing Development in Northwest Suburbs
Myers Place to help 39 of Cook County’s most vulnerable individuals live independently
MOUNT PROSPECT – June 4, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — For the first time in the northwest suburbs, a new supportive housing development will open its doors to provide people with disabilities or special needs with quality apartments that will enable them to find stability and live independently.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), the state housing finance agency under Governor Pat Quinn, today joined local elected officials and other public-private partners to celebrate the opening of the 39-unit Myers Place in Mount Prospect.
IHDA financed the development with $2 million in Community Development Block Grant financing in partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and federal housing tax credits that generated $8.1 million in private equity. An additional $102,000 grant through the DCEO helped finance the development’s green features. To help the local economy, an estimated 74 jobs were created with the construction of the development.
“Myers Place furthers Governor Quinn’s commitment to increasing safe, decent and affordable housing opportunities so more people with disabilities can live independently in a community setting,” said Mary R. Kenney, IHDA executive director. “This development demonstrates how we work together with our private partners to create housing that will enable people with special needs to lead more active, dynamic lives.”
Developed by Daveri Development Group, Myers Place will connect residents with a range of services, including mental health counseling, job training services and case management. The Kenneth Young Center, a suburban-based comprehensive provider of mental health and senior support services, is the not-for-profit joint owner of the development that will provide these services.
Demonstrating the high demand for this type of housing in Cook County, the first residents began moving in on June 1 – selected from more than 300 applicants on a waiting list. Many people who are disabled, mentally ill or at risk of being homeless still cannot access housing because their only source of income, Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance, cannot cover the rent for most affordable rental housing. That is why creating safe and decent housing like Myers Place is so important to give people the opportunity to follow their dreams and reach their full potential.
Under Governor Quinn’s administration, approximately 1,800 community-based supportive housing units have been financed across Illinois to ensure more people with special needs can live independently in the community of their choice. In 2012, 20 percent of the multifamily units, or one in five, that IHDA financed were supportive housing. To date this year, nearly one-quarter of IHDA-funded units are supportive housing.
“Myers Place represents the efforts of true community development at its best. Without the support of the Mt. Prospect elected officials, the service agencies, the countless volunteers and supporters and our financing partners, we wouldn’t be here today. We must continue working together to ensure many more projects become available in the years ahead,” said Jessica H. Berzac, vice president of development at Daveri Development Group.
