Irinia Riggenbach emphasizes a big difference between Peoria being an affordable market to live and having enough affordable housing.
“When you define affordable housing, that means that somebody is not paying more than 30% of their income on their housing,” said Riggenbach, executive director of the Peoria Opportunities Foundation, a nonprofit working toward housing development and neighborhood revitalization.
“So people often talk about how Peoria is ‘affordable,’ and it is affordable if you own your home. We have pretty affordable prices to purchasing a house. But our rents are not affordable to most everyday working citizens.”
Riggenbach recently was selected to participate in the third cohort of the Next Generation Building Initiative, a statewide program led by the Illinois Housing Development Authority [IHDA] and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation [LISC].
She said the primary benefit is to become fully aware of all the ins and outs around the financial tool known as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, or LIHTC.
“It’s the primary engine that’s used to build and develop affordable housing in our communities,” said Riggenbach, who attends two-day monthly classes in Chicago as part of her nine-month participation in Next Gen initiative. “There’s a lot of mentorship and training and then connections to industry professionals.”
Riggenbach said one class specifically brought in industry professionals to give an in-depth explanation of LIHTC, and another had IHDA staff detail the annual Qualified Action Plan, or QAP.
“It’s basically what they’re looking at when you apply for a project, and so they talk about the specific scoring components for how you apply for a project, and what they’re looking for when they award projects,” she said.
Riggenbach said her participation in the Next Gen cohort will help assure affordable housing projects in Peoria are led by Peoria organizations.
“By mastering the technical side of these credits, we can ensure that Peoria organizations like Peoria Opportunities Foundation have the same capabilities as larger developers in the state,” she said.
“A lot of the developers that do LIHTC projects are in Chicago, and so by bringing an organization from Peoria, it means we have a seat at the table. It means we have connections to the state’s top experts and the technical experience and training that we need to navigate some of these complex financing and tax credits to make projects happen in Peoria.”
Riggenbach said not only does Peoria need more affordable rental units, but also more affordable home ownership — and just more housing in general.
“If you look at specifically the south side of Peoria, there’s vacant lot after vacant law after vacant lot. Some of the population is declining in some of the neighborhoods that used to be the heart of our city,” she said.
“So, by bringing more housing to those neighborhoods, we’re hoping to increase the population, which can increase support for the businesses in the area and hopefully drive some more economic development opportunities.”
Riggenbach notes Peoria Opportunities is in a partnership with Neighborhood House on the Reclaim Peoria home ownership initiative on the South Side, and they’re finishing up construction on the Churchview Garden Homes development of 47 affordable homes for families, also on the South Side.
“We want to use the technical capacity to build quality affordable housing that can stabilize our streets and serve our broader mission of bringing people and institutions together to act for the common good,” she said. “That’s how we can kind of keep Peoria’s growth rooted right here at home.”
