Elgin artists project gets funding boost from Kane County

A redevelopment project that will provide affordable housing and gallery space for artists in downtown Elgin received a $750,000 financial boost Thursday from the federal government courtesy of Kane County.

Elgin city officials already approved the plan, which would convert property once owned by Elgin Community College onto the tax roll via a 55-unit housing project. The idea already received a $1.1 million annual grant of federal dollars through the Illinois Housing Development Authority to see the project come to life. The project, called Elgin Artspace Lofts, will also be the main focus of federal Housing and Urban Development money distributed by Kane County. The total cost of the project is about $14.6 million. The site is the Fountain Square building at 15 S. Spring St. A total of 49 of the 55 units will be affordable housing units that will rent for $480 a month for some two-bedroom living spaces. The remaining six units will rent at market rate.

The Kane-Elgin HOME Commission believes in the project so much that it rejected a smaller project pitched by Housing Continuum, Inc. just to make sure the Artspace project has the funding it needs. The commission is more familiar with Housing Continuum, Inc. having funded some of its affordable housing efforts in the past but chose the Artspace project because the $750,000 was given as more of a loan. The commission eventually expects to be repaid $250,000 of the loan over time.

The Housing Continuum, Inc. project would've built four, three-bedroom affordable housing units throughout the Fox Valley, but wanted the money as a grant that would never be repaid.