The Mark Twain Chicago, Illinois
The Mark Twain is NHPF’s first affordable SRO property in Chicago. It is also the first property in the portfolio to be awarded Enterprise Green Communities (ECG) Certification, the country’s only national green building certification program designed explicitly for the affordable housing sector featuring a comprehensive set of guidelines to encourage green building practices. The building is 29% more efficient than it is required to be by the energy code and achieved a 29% indoor water use reduction. In addition to bringing this high level of sustainability to the preservation of an historic building, The Mark Twain is notable for other reasons: • It was the first SRO property of this size that was purchased and preserved under Chicago’s SRO Preservation Ordinance that passed in November 2014. • T he Mark Twain is a prime example of a highly effective private-public partnership to preserve a critical affordable housing resource in an increasingly gentrifying neighborhood of Chicago
• T he mixed-use nature of the property in addition to significant capital needs required an innovative and robust financing structure. Approval of 100% Project- Based Vouchers from the Chicago Housing Authority and the use of the FHA 220 loan that is designed for urban, mixed-use properties were unique financing features of this transaction. To quote Preservation Chicago, a civic organization dedicated to the city’s historic architecture, “The Mark Twain Hotel project is more than just a substantial reinvestment in a historic Art Deco building, but also an investment and commitment focused on equity and affordability in one of Chicago’s most affluent communities. This renovation project also preserves the building’s SRO-Single Room Occupancy status, which has been a goal of the City of Chicago and residents of many communities, to preserve this type of affordable housing, which has disappeared at an alarming rate in recent decades.”
The NHP Foundation | Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report
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