POAH - Preservation of Affordable Housing

The Preservation Challenge
Grove Parc Plaza is a 504-unit Section 8 housing development in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, on three blocks of South Cottage Grove Avenue between the University of Chicago and the terminus of the CTA’s Green Line.

Built in the late 1960s to serve the low income residents of Chicago’s Woodlawn community, Grove Parc suffered from significant design flaws and concentrated poverty. By 2007, the property was severely distressed and threatened with foreclosure and demolition. Despite the property’s significant problems, some 400 very low-income households call Grove Parc home. POAH stepped in to preserve this property’s federal affordable housing subsidies.

POAH’s Role
At the invitation of Grove Parc’s residents, POAH acquired the property in December, 2008 and began to address its significant challenges, working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan which is revitalizing the broader Woodlawn neighborhood.

POAH is replacing Grove Parc’s distressed and obsolete buildings with the new Woodlawn Park development – a variety of distinctive structures combining residential, commercial and recreational uses, making South Cottage Grove Avenue the center of a healthy new mixed-use, mixed-income community. Grove Parc’s Section 8 units will be preserved as an affordable housing resource for current and future residents in the Woodlawn area.

The revitalization began in January, 2008, as POAH’s affiliate, Preservation Housing Management, Inc. (PHM) assumed management of Grove Parc and began to stabilize the property, completing urgent repairs to bring conditions into compliance with HUD physical standards. In addition, PHM has introduced greater resident support and an emphasis on customer service.

At the same time, POAH has developed a revitalization plan that preserves all of the 504 deeply subsidized units in the context of a mixed-income community. Approximately 210 of the Section 8 units will remain on site, making up about half of the new Woodlawn Park units. The balance of the existing Section 8 subsidies will be shifted to new or renovated units in the neighborhood.

press release: POAH closes on Renaissance Apartments

below: renovated apartments at Prairie Ave and 56th Street

6101 S. Evans Chicago IL 60637 POAH is replacing the distressed Grove Parc Plaza Apartments and creating a healthier mixed use, mixed-income community. In 2011, Woodlawn Park received a $30.5 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant (go to Choice web page) read POAH's press release read Woodlawn revitalization newsletter read commentary by POAH policy director Andrew Spofford watch three minute video Key Choice Partners City of Chicago University of Chicago Urban Education Institute LISC New Communities Program Metropolitan Family Services	The Preservation Challenge Grove Parc Plaza is a 504-unit Section 8 housing development in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, on three blocks of South Cottage Grove Avenue between the University of Chicago and the terminus of the CTA’s Green Line. Built in the late 1960s to serve the low income residents of Chicago’s Woodlawn community, Grove Parc suffered from significant design flaws and concentrated poverty. By 2007, the property was severely distressed and threatened with foreclosure and demolition. Despite the property’s significant problems, some 400 very low-income households call Grove Parc home. POAH stepped in to preserve this property’s federal affordable housing subsidies. POAH’s Role At the invitation of Grove Parc’s residents, POAH acquired the property in December, 2008 and began to address its significant challenges, working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan which is revitalizing the broader Woodlawn neighborhood. POAH is replacing Grove Parc’s distressed and obsolete buildings with the new Woodlawn Park development – a variety of distinctive structures combining residential, commercial and recreational uses, making South Cottage Grove Avenue the center of a healthy new mixed-use, mixed-income community. Grove Parc’s Section 8 units will be preserved as an affordable housing resource for current and future residents in the Woodlawn area. The revitalization began in January, 2008, as POAH’s affiliate, Preservation Housing Management, Inc. (PHM) assumed management of Grove Parc and began to stabilize the property, completing urgent repairs to bring conditions into compliance with HUD physical standards. In addition, PHM has introduced greater resident support and an emphasis on customer service. At the same time, POAH has developed a revitalization plan that preserves all of the 504 deeply subsidized units in the context of a mixed-income community. Approximately 210 of the Section 8 units will remain on site, making up about half of the new Woodlawn Park units. The balance of the existing Section 8 subsidies will be shifted to new or renovated units in the neighborhood. press release: POAH closes on Renaissance Apartments below: renovated apartments at Prairie Ave and 56th Street
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