A $21.5 million senior housing development is making headway in Rock Island.
Rock Island nonprofit Community Home Partners (CHP), which operates and manages the Rock Island Housing Authority, is planning to build a 60-unit apartment complex called Valley Homes with Orland Park developer AHDVS, LLC. The development on the corner of 9th Avenue and 25th Street will include 45 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom apartments.
CHP CEO and Executive Director John Chow welcomed the tax credit funding announcement, noting that between the time they applied for tax credits, the original plan to add townhomes was scrapped.
“We're not going to build separate townhomes because that becomes a cost burden that we're not going to be able to meet [within] the budget,” Chow said in an interview with WVIK. “So we eliminated the townhome concept. Looks like more than likely [it] is now a 4-story elevator apartment-style building for the seniors, with a community center on the main level.”
Earlier this month, the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) announced over $37 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and an additional $39 million in federal and state subordinate resources. The funding will assist in developing 22 affordable housing developments across 15 counties in the state. Valley Homes is one of the recipients.
IHDA Assistant Director for Government and Public Affairs Andrew Field said the development is receiving more than $12.5 million in low-income housing tax credits, covering about 60% of the total development costs.
“And then they have also requested what is called the donation tax credit, which is a donation made to the development. It could be the land, it could be a private donation of money that triggers the state donation tax credit. So there's a small little— it's like a very, very miniature low-income housing tax credit program. That's going to bring in an additional $108,000 to the development,” Field said in an interview with WVIK. “And then they've requested $3.1 million in soft funds. And that method has not been determined yet. They're going to work through the closing process, but they've been approved for it. So it's just a matter of where that pool will come from.”
Chow said the remaining funding gap for the project is about $2 million. CHP is seeking that funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program, with the decision pending.
Field said such incentive programs have been vital to building more affordable housing statewide.
“We've been happy to see over the past 5 years we funded [the] creation of more than 7,500 units of affordable housing throughout the state,” Field said. “And we make sure we have set-asides so that metros across Illinois are receiving these credits, as there [are] affordable housing challenges all over, not just Chicago. And we want to make sure that, as a statewide agency, we can help address as best we can with the minimum financing we receive to really incentivize these communities and see this— get the shovels in the ground, and these developments come to life.”
Chow said construction at Valley Homes should start by the spring of 2027.
In a separate project, CHP has completed more than a third of construction on 25 housing units at 950 31st Avenue in Rock Island for veterans and their families. That development will cost $8.6 million. Chow said the project will finish by the end of the year. Sometime in August, CHP will open residence applications, available only to veterans.
“The need is always there. I mean, if you just look at our waiting list, it's well over 1,000 combined. And every time we open up a waiting list for any particular location, one of 7 that we manage, within, I would say, within 24 hours, you're gonna get close to 1,000 applications. So affordable housing, not just within the Quad City area, is pretty much a given throughout the country,” Chow said.
Affordable housing affects all of us.
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