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Solstice On The Park's Neighbor In Hyde Park Goes Affordable

By Sam Cholke | October 17, 2017 5:34am
 A 53-unit building next to Solstice on the Park will be converted to affordable units to keep a promise the developer made to community groups in Hyde Park.
A 53-unit building next to Solstice on the Park will be converted to affordable units to keep a promise the developer made to community groups in Hyde Park.
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DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

HYDE PARK — The developer of Solstice on the Park has come through with a nearly decade-old deal to create new affordable apartments in Hyde Park.

MAC Properties is close to opening the Jeanne Gang-designed Solstice in the spring and ahead of that is converting all 53 apartments in the neighboring building into affordable units.

MAC will start accepting rental applications for 5528 S. Cornell Ave. at meetings from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday in the basement meeting room at Treasure Island, 1526 E. 55th St.

The building is one of the hardest fought projects in Hyde Park, with planning starting for it back in 2007 and then getting put on hold until 2016.

In the process, the developer committed to creating the affordable apartments to secure support from Coalition for Equitable Community Development, which advocates for affordable housing in Hyde Park.

The group’s president, Pat Wilcoxen, said MAC Properties was not required to create any affordable apartments in Solstice on the Park, but she is glad the developer agreed to making the neighboring building affordable.

She said the developer has also agreed to keep a waiting list for applicants who don’t get a unit on the initial round of applications, which it doesn’t normally do for specific buildings.

A representative from MAC Properties could not immediately be reached for comment.

People making less than 60 percent of the area median income, which is $33,180 for a single person, are eligible for the units.

The studios will rent for $760, $802 for a one-bedroom and $964 for a two-bedroom.

Wilcoxen said the group has now been able to guarantee approximately 150 apartments in Hyde Park will remain affordable as rents go up in the neighborhood, but there is more to do.

“I’m still concerned we don’t have units for larger families,” Wilcoxen said. “There’s lots to do.”

The units in the Cornell Avenue building will convert to affordable units as the current leases expire.