The head of a relatively new Peoria nonprofit is hopes a state grant of close to $1 million will spark investor interest in a proposed affordable housing development with a clean energy component on the city’s South Side.
Segun Babalola, executive director of the Central Illinois Community Development Corporation [CICDC], said the organization is looking to jump start its South Village Homes project.
“It is an idea we have had to do single-family homes where we are doing scattered sites — not a single site, but a scattered sites, which is pretty difficult and most developers shy away from doing that because it costs more and there’s a lot more involved,” said Babalola, noting the agency is looking at about 40 homes if it can secure tax credits through the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
“We also put a component for home ownership at the end of it. So, it’s not only that the families that live in there are moderate to lower income individuals, but these are individuals that over time, they have an ability to be able to purchase these houses.”
Last month, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO] included the CICDC’s South Village Homes proposal among the 27 latest awards through its Equitable Energy Future Grant Program to support renewable energy projects in historically underserved communities.
“This is major funding for the future of Peoria’s South Village neighborhood. It’s about creating safe, affordable housing and revitalizing our community so families can thrive,” Democratic State Sen. Dave Koehler of Peoria said in a news release following the grant announcement.
“These grants send a clear message that every neighborhood deserves the resources to build a stronger community.”
The total statewide allocation for the third round was $23 million, with CICDC set to receive $999,735 for the South Village Homes initiative.
“This grant is really more of a planning grant. It gives the ability for small nonprofits just like ourselves, who are new that would pretty much have very little funding or ability, to be able to carry out a project like the South Village project that we’re proposing,” said Babalola.
“The grant is really for the idea for us to be able to put together a comprehensive plan, and then also to be able to do pre-development work for the project.”
Babalola admits the South Village Homes project is still a concept and not yet a firm project, pointing out the grant aims to help the agency move the development toward becoming a reality.
“We are not getting the funding up front; this is a funding whereby, as we incrementally make progress, the state will be releasing the funds to us,” he said. “What they want to see out of this project is the idea that we can actually put a plan together, we can pitch it to investors, or at least contributors, or fund raise to getting the project off the ground. The further it goes, the more they give us out of that fund. And if it doesn’t go any further, we’re not going to get all that money.”
‘Trying to solve a problem’
Babalola brings more than a decade of community and economic experience to the CICDC after beginning his career in local government in the St. Louis area prior to his relocation to Peoria. He said the CICDC launched about three years ago with a focus on affordable housing and energy efficiency.
“We felt that there was a need for a local entity that focused on primarily just really doing community development through housing in in this area and in this region,” he said. “Our end goal is that we are able to cover gaps, like I said, in the housing need for the city and for the region, and we are also able to maintain a reasonable housing stock and quality stock for individuals and families.”
Babalola said there were two key components necessary for the South Village project to be eligible for the state grant: a clean energy component, and benefiting low-income individuals.
“I think what really made this project stand out is the fact that we were thinking of building a project that was looking at all facets of development, not just the fact that we were building homes for individuals, but we’re also making sure that once they get into these homes, they can afford their utility bills,” he said.
“The other element really was the fact that we were a new nonprofit and that we were trying to solve a problem. I believe the state had seen that there were many nonprofits like ours that never took off because of the fact that they lacked funding. With my expertise, I was able to kind of emphasize the need for this funding, and to make sure that we were able to at least attempt at it.”
Babalola said the CICDC hopes it can eventually facilitate clean energy housing projects elsewhere around Central Illinois, such as Champaign-Urbana or Bloomington-Normal. But for now, the focus is entirely on making sure the South Village Homes initiative is brought to fruition.
“We need to start off with Peoria first, probably have a few successful projects under our belt, and then be able to kind of move forward,” he said. “What we hope to do, especially with a project like this, is to partner. We’re not going to be doing this by ourselves. We will be partnering with potential developers, private sector developers who were willing to help us out with this project.”
