Cleland Place

In 2014, when Wilmette American Legion Post 46 listed their headquarters for sale in preparation of the Post’s closure, Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) identified the property as having potential for the development of affordable housing and purchased the building for $464,000. Of note, Post 46 members were proud to sell their headquarters to an affordable housing development corporation and maintained support for the later-proposed Cleland Place throughout the planning process. Shortly after the sale, HODC presented a proposal for Cleland Place to the Wilmette Planning Commission, resulting in the organization of significant community opposition to the development. Opposition even created a website dedicated to stopping the development, which argued that Cleland Place would increase traffic, impose an undue burden on the surrounding neighborhood, and threaten the safety of the community, among other things.

With less than 10% of its housing stock affordable, Wilmette had been far-short of the benchmark set by Illinois’ Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (AHPAA) since the law’s inception in 2002. Working on a plan to reach that 10% threshold, Wilmette officials listened to the opposition but maintained throughout the process that affordable housing is an issue that they would prioritize. After several refinements to the original proposal spanning roughly three years of public meetings with village officials and neighbors, Wilmette Village Trustees unanimously approved the Cleland Place proposal in April of 2018, ground was broken in 2019, and doors opened in August of 2021.

Though there was vocal opposition to the development throughout the process by some of the community, many Wilmette residents made their support for the development heard during the building’s opening when hundreds showed up with flowers in support of their new neighbors.

Named in honor of longtime Wilmette resident, HODC founding board member, and lifelong civil rights advocate Jean Cleland (1923-2013), Cleland Place is a three-story, 16-unit building with a mix of 10 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units, and six two-bedroom/two-bathroom units, all of which are reserved for households earning up to 60% AMI and four of which have Project Based Vouchers. Applications are accepted from all income-eligible households, and several apartments are reserved for veterans and persons with a disability. Building amenities include 20 covered parking spaces, a community room, laundry room, elevator, security system, and resident-driven activities. In a great location, residents are within a mile of several grocery stores, parks, shops, schools, and public transit options. Sixteen low-income households have called Cleland Place home since its opening in 2021, providing an otherwise unattainable opportunity to live in the great community of Wilmette and breaking a long-standing economic barrier.