The Evanston City Council unanimously approved the first use of up to $400,000 in funding from the Ryan Field Community Benefits Agreement for a purchase of property on Brown Avenue to be developed for affordable housing.
As part of the agreement to allow Northwestern to rebuild Ryan Field, $1 million a year for the next 15 years is being donated by the university to the city’s Affordable Housing fund. A portion of that funding is now set to be used to purchase a 0.28-acre lot with tenative plans to split the lot and build six three-bedroom condominiums along with three additional rental units.
The property at 1831 to 1835 Brown Avenue in the city’s 5th Ward has been in the sights of the Here To Stay Committee created by 5th Ward Alderman Bobby Burns. The committee, which he said isn’t official but has been meeting monthly since December 2022, has been focusing on affordable housing that can be transferred into home ownership instead of lifelong renting to keep lower-income residents in Evanston.
Members of the committee live predominantly in the 5th Ward and have experience in realty, renting, leasing and affordable housing support.
“The Here To Stay Committee is a committee to try to figure out how to help long-time Evanston residents in particular to afford to stay in Evanston,” Burns said.
The committee is partnering with members of the city’s faith community to revitalize underused properties owned by local churches and turn them into affordable housing. Burns explained the faith community in Evanston owns a decent amount of property, including five lots within the 5th Ward.
“Some of them are rectories. Many of them are vacant. Many of them have sat vacant for a long period of time,” Burns said. “So the question is while we have available vacant land, is there a way to work with the faith community to put it back to productive use?”
The Brown Ave property is currently owned by Tabernacle Baptist Church, which has agreed to give the city priority for purchase of the property before it’s placed on the market. Burns estimates if the property goes for sale publicly it will end up producing at least a million-dollar home, making it unaffordable to those living in the area.
A similar project has been underway since early 2023 as part of a partnership between Housing Opportunity Development Corporation and Mt. Pisgah Ministry. Construction is set to begin on the once-controversial project at the corner of Church Street and Darrow Avenue this summer, according to HODC’s website.
The Here To Stay Committee is also working to renegotiate the affordability terms on for profit affordable housing owners. Typically, those properties end up being sold but Burns hopes to either renegotiate terms or facilitate the next owners of the property to help the units remain affordable.
The city has also marked affordable housing as a top priority in 2023 ad have continued the work with the city’s strategic housing plan.
