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PROPOSED ARPA FIXED SITE SHELTER - ACQUISITION PROGRAM
Department: Planning and Development
Other Part(ies): Connections for the Homeless, Inc., Evanston, Illinois
Request: Respectfully request the Board of Commissioners approval of a $7,000,000, 30-years, 0% permanent loan using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to acquire an existing hotel facility to create a fixed site, 70-person, non-congregant, permanent shelter facility.
Total Development Cost: $15,015,476.00
Project Loan Amount: $7,000,000.00
Fiscal Impact: $7,000,000.00
Account(s): 11286.1013.66737.580170.00000.00000
Summary: Connections for the Homeless, Inc., (Connections) has requested $7,000,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds for the acquisition of an existing hotel property in Evanston, IL. The loan has a thirty-year term, 0% permanent loan rate and is fully forgivable at maturity. The acquisition funds will provide acquisition and closing costs for the fixed-site non-congregate shelter serving up to 70 residents in Evanston.
The subject site address is located at 1566 Oak Avenue in Evanston, Illinois. The subject site is in a mixed-use area of residential and commercial use in the city of Evanston, IL. The subject site is currently comprised of an existing Hotel structure, The Margarita Inn, which operated as a boutique 55-room hotel for 85 years prior to the Pandemic.
Since March 2021, Connections has master-leased the hotel and operated a fixed-site homeless shelter. Emergency COVID-19 federal dollars in the form of either CDBG CV or American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), via Cook County, have sustained this model in the short-term. Long-term, this model was not sustainable as it currently costs approximately $2,400,000 annually to operate the homeless program at this location with hotel rents accounting for up to $1,500,000 of expenses and absent a long-term stream of revenue to support operations.
Connections, in partnership with its Alliance of Homelessnes...
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