New employer-assisted housing strategy promotes Plan for Transformation mixed-income communities.
To support the new mixed-income housing created as part of the Chicago Housing Authority Plan for Transformation, MPC has set a goal that 10 percent of all buyers of the moderately priced homes be local employees who have purchased with some form of financial assistance from their employers. This goal builds on MPC’s track-record of tailoring employer-assisted housing (EAH) strategies to support a variety of employers and communities.
When the Plan for Transformation was first conceived, each new community would contain approximately a third of all the new homes for moderate-income working households. Initially, many stakeholders anticipated that EAH would be a key mechanism for attracting the desired mix into these new communities. In reality, the high demand for the limited number of moderately priced homes has positioned EAH as a tool for ensuring that the local workforce benefits from the exciting redevelopment.
Thanks in great part to the support and leadership of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, MPC is well on its way to achieving its 10 percent goal. Below is a list of employers who have launched or are preparing to launch employer-assisted housing programs that, at least in part, support the Plan for Transformation:
• Advocate Bethany Hospital*
• Bank of America*
• Charter One Bank*
• Chicago Drapery & Carpet, Inc.*
• Chicago Public Safety Officers Program
• Chicago Public Schools*
• Christie Weber Landscaping*
• City Colleges of Chicago*
• DeLaSalle Institute*
• Draper and Kramer
• Environmental Specialty*
• First Midwest Bank*
• Harris NA*
• Illinois College of Optometry*
• Illinois Institute of Technology*
• Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC)*
• International Marble & Granite*
• JP Morgan Chase Bank*
• Labelmaster
• MacArthur Foundation*
• MB Financial Bank
• MB Real Estate*
• McGrath Motors*
• Mellish and Murray
• Mercy Hospital*
• Metropolitan Planning Council*
• Midway Moving
• National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice*
• Rush University Medical Center*
• The John Buck Company*
• The Walsh Group*
• University of Chicago Hospitals*
• University of Chicago*
* Indicates up and running.
While MPC continues to work with new employers that support the Plan for Transformation by offering housing assistance to their employees, the Council is also working with the City of Chicago to identify additional housing opportunities affordable to the local workforce. If you know of a company that might have an interest in supporting its workforce to purchase or rent within the Plan for Transformation communities or elsewhere within the Chicago, please contact Lillie Sellers at (312) 863-6005 or LSellers@metroplanning.org. If you want further information regarding employer-assisted housing please go to the REACH Illinois Web site.