Report: McHenry County needs more housing for its workforce

McHenry County has a shortage of workforce housing, and about a quarter of county households are cost-burdened, according to a new report addressing housing in the county.

Cost-burdened households spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The county lacks enough housing for those whose jobs are in the county, according to county documents.

Workforce housing is tailored toward people making 30% to 80% of an area’s median income. In McHenry County, those ranges are between $30,000 and $80,000, county documents indicate. Deputy County Administrator Scott Hartman said Thursday that nearly 79% of the county’s workforce falls into that category.

McHenry County officials have been working to address the issue, and the county convened a workforce housing work group last year. County officials presented the group’s findings and report Thursday, adding that most of the county’s housing stock is single-family homes.

Some housing developments have been proposed in the county.

Cary Mayor Mark Kownick on Thursday shared his experience with workforce housing when Cary voted on the Garden Place project years ago. Kownick said he was the tiebreaking vote to approve the development on First Street near downtown Cary.

After officials reviewed the new report, several county board members weighed in and asked questions.

“I think that we desire sometimes to believe” the county is an upper-middle class, upper-class community, board member Brian Sager, a Woodstock Republican, said, adding that much of the community is blue-collar.

McHenry is set to have a workforce housing development in Taylor Place Apartments, which broke ground last spring. Taylor Place is set to be up and running next year and will offer 50 workforce apartments once completed.

In the report, county officials noted the total cost per unit is more than $500,000 “due to the legal, financing, and administrative requirements.” The report says comparable market-rate apartments “can be built for considerably less and have a greater rate of return.”

Officials also said the housing mismatch affects the workforce. About 90,000 jobs are based in McHenry County, and roughly half — about 43,500 workers — live outside the county and commute. According to the report, the workers commuting in typically live in “areas of the region with lower housing costs.”

Some of the recommendations in the report included creating a “positive narrative” about workforce housing, educating leaders about what to expect when looking at such projects, and working with municipalities.

“There’s a lot of education that needs to be involved in this,” Kownick said.