Rantoul group plays waiting game to develop affordable housing units | Housing

RANTOUL — Plans to build several affordable homes on 7 acres on Rantoul’s northeast side have been delayed as planners expect interest rates to drop.

Gary Wilson, executive director of Champaign County Housing Development Corp., the nonprofit responsible for the Mitchell Court project, said “interest rates skyrocketed” shortly after the purchase was made in 2022.

“We figured it would cost us about $16,000 a month to pay back on a $3.5 to $4 million project,” Wilson said.

“We do affordable housing and thought if we could (rent) about $550 a month for new apartments that would be good.

“Then interest rates went up and that same money now has to be paid back at $27,000 a month. “We would have to pay $850 to $900 a month or more to break even, so it is no longer affordable housing.”

The facility is located at 106 N. Chanute St. It is located near the Dairy Queen restaurant at 1103 Klein Ave., east of the former Annabelle Huling Memorial House at .

Wilson said there is a significant need for affordable housing.

Champaign County Housing Development Corp. owns 101 housing units on Mitchell Court.

“There are about 150 people on the waiting list who want to move in,” Wilson said. “There have been people living there since the mid-70s.”

Currently, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $320 per month, the rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $355, and the rent for a three-bedroom apartment is $385.

In Illinois, “affordable housing” means housing that has a value, cost, or rent within the means of a moderate-income or low-income household.

The development company purchased the property from the Huling foundation because “the foundation had run out of money,” Wilson said.

The brick Huling Home, which opened 100 years ago and closed in 2020, was sold to Ricardo Mendoza in February. Mendoza plans to renovate the place, Wilson said.

Attempts by The News-Gazette to contact Mendoza were unsuccessful.

The development company hopes to build between 50 and 60 affordable housing units “depending on location and cost,” Wilson said.

These will include two- and three-bathroom, two- and three-bedroom units, respectively.

The property is already zoned for multi-family residential, Wilson said.

“Once we draw up the plans and get the money, we will take it to the village for code enforcement to make sure everything is equal before we break ground.”

If interest rates don’t rebound, government grant funding for residential property development could be one option, Wilson said.

“I know they have given affordable housing grants before,” he said.

HULING HOUSE

The Huling Children’s Home, also known as the Annabel Huling Memorial Home, opened on June 18, 1924 and remained open until 1975. It was later reopened as a boarding house for young boys and girls. The house later closed and remained empty until it became a detention home for young girls; It was only open for a short time.

It later opened as a nursery before closing in 2020.

The brick building covers an area of ​​10,000 square meters.

The house was named after a young girl the Huling family adopted from an orphanage run by the Illinois Children’s Home and Relief Society.

Her mother, Madeline E. Huling, bequeathed $50,000 to be used for a house to be built for her dependents in Rantoul on behalf of her daughter, who died when she was a child.

Some children lived there for a short time, while others made it their home for as many as 14 years.

Not all of the children were orphans. Some were the children of parents who had fallen on hard times and could not afford to raise them. Visitation rights were expanded, and from time to time, children returned to their families when conditions improved.

Well-known TENANT

Among the children living at the Huling House was actor James Gammon, who has appeared in numerous films and television roles, from Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown in the “Major League” movies to Don Johnson’s father in “Nash Bridges.” The series ran for six seasons on CBS.

Mr. Gammon, who died in Costa Mesa, Calif., in 2010, was born in Newman and came to live at Huling Home with his brother. He was known for playing grizzled, “good boy” types on screen.

The Huling House was first started by the Champaign County Board of Supervisors using funds from Madeline Huling’s estate.

Its capacity was 20 children.

It closed years later and became known as the Beacon Therapy School, a private institution that used it as accommodation for children needing psychiatric help.

The house closed again and remained vacant until it was used as a non-profit daycare until its closure in 2020.