Affordable South Side complex locked in for $100M overhaul

Section 8 project will lean on state housing authority bonds

L+M’s Josue Sanchez and SAA|EVI’s Ernst Valery with Concordia Place Apartments (LinkedIn, SAA | EVI, Google Maps, Getty)
L+M’s Josue Sanchez and SAA|EVI’s Ernst Valery with Concordia Place Apartments (LinkedIn, SAA | EVI, Google Maps, Getty)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s prayers have been answered — at least regarding his hopes for a piece of South Side real estate.

A joint venture of New York-based L+M Development Partners and SAA|EVI is making an affordable housing play on a Chicago asset, having secured financing to overhaul a property the famed reverend and political figure Jackson visited last year to call for improvements.

The firms are teaming up to acquire and rehabilitate Concordia Place Apartments at a total project cost of $99.7 million, they said in a statement. The 297-unit Section 8 complex at 13037 South Daniel Drive includes 29 two- to three-story residential buildings and one community building that Jackson toured after residents raised concerns with mold and water issues on the property, making calls to gut it and improve the living conditions.

“By completely overhauling the property to make it more sustainable, safe, and functional, Concordia will not only remain affordable, but will also be a place where residents will live with dignity for decades to come,” L+M’s Josue Sanchez said in prepared comments.

It’s unclear how much the joint venture is paying to buy the property versus how much of the allocated funds are going into improvements as the firm declined to break down the acquisition cost.

Concordia Place isn’t the first large South Side apartment complex to attract an out-of-state investor in recent weeks. Jason Bordainick’s Hudson Valley Property Group, another New York-based firm focused on buying and improving affordable assets, made its first foray into the Chicago area market this fall with the $28 million acquisition of four apartment buildings on South Drexel Boulevard and South Ingleside Avenue that the firm is putting at least another $13 million into improving.

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And on the Near West Side, New York-based Jonathan Rose Cos. picked up a 272-unit apartment complex for $17.5 million and plans to put another $46 million into renovations.

The Concordia complex was built in 1969 and consists of 29 studio apartments, 92 one-bedrooms and 114 two-bedrooms. It was built in 1969.

The project is being financed with tax-exempt bonds from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, 4 percent low-income tax credits syndicated by Raymond James, a tax-exempt Freddie Mac loan from Capital One and a tax-exempt bridge loan from Fifth Third Bank.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority signed off on issuing bond funding up to $65.2 million for the complex in September, according to public documents.

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