The Board of Commissioners of the Chicago Housing Authority agreed to provide the new owners of Barbara Jean Wright Court apartment complex with funding for up to 160 apartments of the 272-unit complex, the Jonathan Rose Companies (Rose) said in a press release.
“We are gratified and encouraged by today’s board action,” Nathan D. Taft, partner at Rose, said in the release. The company said it expects to complete purchase of the apartment complex later this year. “We have been working with the residents, Alderman [Byron] Sigcho-Lopez, the CHA, HUD and the City for quite some time, and this marks a key milestone in getting to closing and providing the residents with the renovation of their apartment complex as well as the security that they deserve.”
Built in 1972 as a HUD financed development, Rose said the apartment complex was purchased by Chicago Community Development Corporation in 1996, which did a modest rehab of the apartments in 2001. In purchasing the building, Rose said it will pay off the existing $16 million debt still owed to HUD and intends to spend another approximately $35 million (or $130,000 per unit) on renovations and upgrades to the property both inside and out.
“The CHA’s willingness to provide project-based vouchers for up to 160 apartments is crucial to the residents’ sense of well-being,” said Ms. Jessie Johnson, president of the Barbara Jean Wright Court Tenant Council. “We’ve lived with bad conditions for a long time and the uncertainty has been difficult, so yes, we are relieved to know that the buildings will be improved and that we’ll be able to stay in them.”
