Anthony Place

On a 27-acre site once home to the St. Charles mall – built in 1980, vacant since 1995, and demolished by the city in 2002 – Geneva-based development firm Shodeen Group acquired the site shortly after its demolition in 2002 and aimed to transform it into a walkable, mixed-used neighborhood with a total of 15 residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings. Prairie Center, as the development is called, reflects both a national shift in consumer demand, where sprawling suburban shopping malls of the 80’s and 90’s are being replaced by urban-style, mixed-use developments, and the increasing urgency of municipalities to address the affordable housing crisis.

Familiar with St. Charles’ 2008 adoption of an inclusionary housing ordinance, Shodeen Group was aware that Prairie Center would require either (a) 10% of all housing created be affordable to households earning up to 80% AMI, or (b) a payment in-lieu of an affordable component. With 670 housing units planned for Prairie Center, Shodeen agreed to create new affordable housing for at least 10% of the new residences but negotiated with the city to structure the affordable component as a standalone senior building, amending the requirement that affordable apartments be dispersed among market-rate housing. Shodeen then identified the parcel within Prairie Center in which they wanted to build the affordable senior building, prepared the site for construction, and sold it to GC Housing – a sister entity of Crane Construction, who brought extensive experience in the development of affordable housing – to build, own, and manage the property. St. Charles was a welcoming and collaborative partner with both Shodeen and GC, allowing for a smooth planning process which saw the Prairie Center proposal passed in 2017, ground broken in 2018, and doors of Anthony Place opened in 2019.

The final product- Anthony Place- is a 75-unit, 100% affordable, independent senior apartment building with 57 one-bedroom/one-bathroom apartments and 18 two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartments. 20 of the one-bedroom/one-bathroom apartments are reserved for households eligible for Project Based Vouchers, 15 of which are for households with incomes up to 30% AMI and 5 for households with incomes up to 50% AMI. The remaining 37 one-bedroom/one-bathroom apartments are reserved for households with incomes up to 60% AMI. Of the 18 two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartments, 17 are reserved for households with incomes up to 60% AMI, and one is a manager’s unit.

Amenities include dishwashers, in-unit laundry, large living spaces, and, in many cases, private balconies. Additionally, the building offers a community room and kitchen, gym, library, crafts room, communal patio, full-time property management, part-time maintenance and sanitation staff, and a small office space with a local resource center that connects residents to support services.

Residents are also offered an accessible, walkable lifestyle by Anthony Place’s proximity to existing services, located directly adjacent to Jewel-Osco and several restaurants. Further, when complete, the mixed-use nature of the Prairie Center development will offer even more dining, shopping, and entertainment options all within the neighborhood. Now, five years into the Prairie Center development, Anthony Place has proven itself to be both a valued addition to the community and a highly valuable tenant of the Prairie Center development.

The primary lessons learned relate to local leadership, public-private partnerships and regionwide demand. St. Charles was one of the first communities in metropolitan Chicago to adopt an inclusionary housing ordinance to leverage all new development to help increase the resources for affordable housing. This policy was influential in both dispelling community concerns and attracting contractors. GC Housing was attracted to St. Charles because of the City’s leadership, planning, and the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, and wanted to work with a community who understood the value of affordable housing. The development team also worked proactively with the Housing Authority of Elgin to secure PBVs to provide a needed subsidy for the residents and a dependable source of revenue to leverage additional financing.