La Casa Norte

Photo Credit: Tom Harris

In July 2017, CDF provided $9.5 million in New Markets Tax Credits to La Casa Norte for construction of Pierce House. The 47,700-square-foot LEED Silver certified project is located in Humboldt Park. Pierce House includes 25 units of permanent supportive housing, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), a food pantry, a café/soup kitchen, a youth drop-in center, and a community computer lab, in addition to administrative/office space for La Casa Norte. CDF’s financing specifically supported the non-residential components of the project.

Since its founding in 2002, La Casa Norte has been serving youth and families confronting homelessness and today offers services including permanent, transitional, and emergency housing as well as training and educational programming, case management, therapy, and food, clothing, and transportation assistance. Pierce House will offer 25 permanent supportive housing units reserved for homeless families and unaccompanied youth with incomes at or below 30% of area median income. The FQHC located at the project is an 8,600-square-foot, four-exam room health clinic operated by Howard Brown Health Center that is expected to serve 1,600 unique patients annually. In addition, the project is expected to serve a total of nearly 1,200 individuals each year with services offering healthy foods, job training/placement, youth drop-in programming, nutrition guidance, and community computer labs. Combined, the project components are expected to create and retain approximately 76 permanent FTEs.

IFF provided the project with $6 million in NMTC allocation and PNC Bank provided NMTC equity along with an additional $3.5 million in NMTC allocation. The City of Chicago provided additional support with $3.5 million in TIF funding and a $4.2 million loan.