A long-sought senior living center in Aurora will open its doors Tuesday (Jan. 31, 2017) and will name its new community room after former Mayor Tom Weisner.
Evergreen Real Estate Group, together with officials from the city of Aurora, will take part in the Tuesday grand opening ceremony for Aurora St. Charles Senior Living. The 60-unit independent living facility just east of downtown Aurora promises to provide affordable housing for low-income seniors.
Formerly St. Charles Hospital, the historic Art Deco building at 400 E. New York St. had been vacant or under-used for many years. It was transformed into a modern residential community as part of a $24 million redevelopment that began in December 2015. The community welcomed its first residents last month.
A public ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 11 a.m. to noon in the newly renovated community room, located in the former hospital chapel. The event will include a dedication ceremony honoring former Weisner, who recently stepped down as mayor.
Evergreen and city officials decided to name the Aurora St. Charles Senior Living community room after Weisner for his role in bringing the project to fruition, part of a broader commitment to ensure all Aurora seniors have access to high-quality, affordable housing.
Tours of the community room will be provided following the ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony on Jan. 31.
Aurora St. Charles Senior Living offers a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans, all with spacious living/dining areas and open kitchens. The community's modern interiors showcase a number of original design features, including 9-foot ceilings throughout, oversized windows in each residence, and terrazzo and stone floors in common areas.
The property also features several shared amenity spaces, including the large community room, which houses a library/reading room and separate fitness room. Outside, walking paths and community gardens provide additional opportunities for exercise and socialization.
Residents can also frequent popular shopping, dining and entertainment destinations in downtown Aurora. In addition to offering convenient access to McCarty Park, located across the street from the community, Aurora St. Charles Senior Living is just a half-mile from the Paramount Theatre and Fox River Trail.
"Affordable housing developments like St. Charles Senior Living help strengthen communities like Aurora by allowing seniors across all income levels to lead active, engaged lives while remaining close to family and friends," said Block.
Designed by Wybe J. Van der Meer, the former hospital was completed in 1932, with additional renovations made to the interior of the structure in the decades that followed. Until the redevelopment, the building had been vacant since 2010, the year it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.
Evergreen Real Estate Group collaborated with Invest Aurora, Northern Lights Development Corporation, the city of Aurora, Illinois Housing Development Authority and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, along with several private lenders and investors, to secure the complicated layers of financing and tax credits needed to fund the $24 million rehabilitation.
Approximately $3 million was obtained through the River Edge Redevelopment Zone program, created in 2006 to incentivize riverfront development in Aurora and other Illinois cities. The balance of the project's development cost was covered by a combination of federal historic tax credits, low-income housing tax credits allocated by IHDA and private financing.
Founded in 1999, Chicago-based Evergreen Real Estate Group is a fully integrated multifamily company that develops, acquires and manages affordable and market-rate multifamily apartments for both seniors and families across eight states. Evergreen specializes in thoughtful, creative residential development solutions in communities around the Midwest. From adaptive reuse of historic buildings to new development in cities and towns facing a shortage of affordable housing, Evergreen offers an experienced team of attorneys, architects, and developers to municipalities seeking to create high-quality apartment communities. Evergreen currently owns and manages 6,500 units of multifamily housing. For more information on the company, visit www.evergreenreg.com.