It took a change in state law, but a stalled plan to turn a vacant high-rise at the former Ravenswood Hospital site into affordable senior housing is ready to move forward, the developer said Monday.
“We’re looking to start construction sometime this summer, probably late July or early August,” said Jeff Rappin, chairman of Evergreen Real Estate Group, a Chicago-based affordable housing developer.
The proposed $60 million mixed-use redevelopment seeks to build separate supportive and independent living facilities under one roof, which was prohibited by state regulations — until Friday.
A new law signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner allows both uses in one facility as long as they have separate entrances, common spaces and staffs.
Evergreen plans to redevelop the 10-story building on the former Ravenswood Hospital campus at 4501 N. Winchester Ave. with 119 supportive living apartments on the first four floors and 74 one-bedroom independent living units on the upper floors.
The Chicago Housing Authority committed $24 million for the independent living portion of the project, with the balance of the project funded through equity and debt, using low-income housing tax credits, Rappin said.
Submitted in 2016, the proposal was rejected in November by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which regulates supportive living facilities.
The developers enlisted support to change the rules, with Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, sponsoring a bill to allow for mixed-use supportive living facilities. It passed unanimously in the House and Senate before landing on Rauner’s desk last month.
“Because it was a hybrid model, I certainly didn’t want … all the people who are on senior housing waiting lists across the city and state to lose an opportunity to find a home,” Feigenholtz said Monday.
In the wake of the new law, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services intends to approve the proposed Ravenswood development, the agency said Monday.
“The department will be complying with this law and continuing its work to ensure that residents of supportive living programs receive safe, high-quality health care,” agency spokesman John Hoffman said in an email.
Rappin said the project is “gathering steam again” thanks to the new law. He is meeting this week with lenders, the contractor and the seller, with whom he entered into a $9 million purchase agreement.
Once he receives approval from the state, he will seek a city building permit. Rappin said it will take about a year to complete the redevelopment, a timeline extended by vandalism at the vacant site.
“There’s a tremendous amount of renovation that has to occur in the building,” Rappin said.
Twitter @RobertChannick
