In a $25 million purchase that guarantees the preservation of more than 300 affordable apartments in east Woodlawn, across the street from the future Obama Presidential Center, Jonathan Rose Companies announced the purchase of the 318-unit Jackson Park Terrace. Located in Chicago’s South Side at 6040 South Harper Avenue, the property was acquired by the Rose Affordable Housing Preservation Fund V in joint venture with Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), which has preserved or built more than 1,000 mixed-income apartments and homes in Woodlawn over the past decade.
Built in 1973, Jackson Park Terrace provided greatly needed affordable housing in a community starved for investment. It was developed by the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation (WCDC), one of the nation’s first community development corporations, led at the time by Bishop Arthur Brazier and activist Reverend Leon Finney.
In addition to an immediate infusion of $4 million for needed building repairs and upgrades, Rose and POAH will implement a residents’ services plan focused on resident health, youth engagement, employment, and financial stability. The $4 million will be used to improve the property’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, needed structural repairs and deferred maintenance. All renovation work is led by GMA, a Chicago-based construction firm headed by Cornelius Griggs and well-known for its renovation of the Pullman National Monument’s Visitor Center.
Immediately, and throughout the renovation period, residents have access to extensive meeting spaces, a community room with a kitchen, a fitness center, and outdoor recreational areas. Residents can also garden at the Hoop House, a community greenhouse on the property operated by a local non-profit Experimental Station.
The property will be managed by Rose Community Management (RCM). It is the first of three multi-building properties that RCM is slated to manage in Chicago by the end of 2022. The acquisition was financed by an assumed FHA loan and is subject to regulatory agreements with HUD and IHDA. In connection with the transaction, the joint venture agreed (in 2020) to extend the affordability restrictions in these agreements for an additional 36 years until 2056. The property is located on land subject to a long-term ground lease from the University of Chicago.
