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The Highlander
NOVEMBER 15, 2004
The Highlander
Published Monthly by the City of Highland Park
Another Milestone in Affordable Housing
Holiday Lighting Festivities - Page 2
City Receives Budget Award - Page 5 On November 12
th
, the Highland Park Illinois Community Land Trust
(HPICLT) celebrated the completion of its inaugural housing devel-
opment with an open house and ribbon cutting at the Temple Av-
enue Town Homes, located at 355-365 Temple Avenue.
The Temple Avenue Town Homes development exemplifies the
type of community that Highland Park strives to be. It is a milestone
for the HPICLT and the City in providing a wide range of housing
options for those who live and work in our community, noted Mayor
Mike Belsky. It also provides a hopeful model for other municipali-
ties in the region who are striving to address their local housing
needs.
HPICLT was established by the City
in March 2003 as a not-for-profit af-
fordable housing developer in
Highland Park. Under the land trust
model, HPICLT retains ownership
of the land. It sells the homes at
affordable prices to income-quali-
fied buyers, and leases the under-
lying land to the buyers for a nomi-
nal fee. A ground lease contains
restrictions on the resale of the
homes, requiring that homes be re-
sold to HPICLT or an income-quali-
fied buyer at a formula price that
give owners a fair return on their
investment while keeping the homes
affordable for future buyers.
All of the town homes at Temple
Avenue are affordable to families making less than 100% of the
Chicago area median income, or $75,400 for a family of four. The
average sales price at the development is $150,000. In 2002, the
median sales price for new condominiums in Highland Park was
$550,000.
HPICLT raised funds from a variety of sources to write down the
cost of the homes to make them affordable to the targeted income
population. The first grant we received was $335,800 from the City
of Highland Parks Affordable Housing Trust Fund, said Mary
Ellen Tamasy, the groups Executive Director. The Trust Funds
commitment to the development enabled us to raise the additional
revenue we needed from other funders. The Affordable Housing
Trust Fund, established by the City Council to support affordable
housing development in Highland Park, is supported in large part
from the revenue received from the $10,000 tax the City imposes on
residential demolitions.
Other financial support included $120,000 from the Lake County Af-
fordable Housing Program, $80,000 from the Illinois Housing Devel-
opment Authority, and $30,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Chicago. First Midwest Bank provided interim financing for HPICLT
to purchase the homes. Highland
Park Bank and Trust, National City
Bank and First Midwest Bank pro-
vided first mortgages to the buyers.
The Temple Avenue development
also benefited from significant in kind
contributions. Attorneys Harold
Francke and Jesse Dodson of Piper
Rudnick, LLP donated all of HPICLT
legal services; and, under the aus-
pices of the Community Economic
Development Law Project, attorneys
from the real estate division of Sears,
Roebuck and Co. and Sonnenschein
Nath & Rosenthal, LLP provided pro
bono services to the home buyers.
This was a true community effort
which had the support of the City
Council, Housing Commission,
Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee, Plan Commission, and the
Design Review Commission, noted Howard Wender, President of
HPICLT and current Chair of the Citys Housing Commission. As a
result, we have been able to provide affordable home ownership op-
portunities to families who live or work in our community. Home
buyers at Temple Avenue include City, School District, Park District
and Highland Park Hospital employees. Some are long-time renters
from the neighborhood.
For more information on HPICLT or to apply for a home, contact Mary
Pictured above are the Temple Avenue Town Homes
113966 body r4.pmd
11/10/2004, 9:13 AM
1
Ellen Tamasy, Executive Director, at (847) 681-8746. High Notes
2
West Deerfield Townships Senior Call Ser-
vice is an on-going program that provides a
daily check on seniors who are homebound
or have limited mobility. Every business day,
the Township places a call to confirm that
the registered seniors are doing well. In the
event of an emergency the Township will
contact a neighbor or family member to pro-
vide notification. This service is confiden-
tial and free of charge. To register for this
program, or to acquire additional information,
please contact Julie Morrison, Township Su-
pervisor, at (847) 945-0614.
Senior Call Service
Here Come the Holidays!
City Offices Closed
November 25
th
and 26
th
City offices will be closed on Thursday, No-
vember 25
th
and Friday, November 26
th
in ob-
servance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Resi-
dents are asked to call the Public Safety
switchboard at (847) 432-7730 if assistance is
required when City offices are closed.
The City of Highland Parks Human Relations
Commission has released nomination forms
for the 2005 Highland Park Humanitarian
Award. This award is presented to an out-
standing Highland Park individual who has
rendered significant personal service to the
Highland Park community. Areas of personal
service include, but are not limited to educa-
tion, charity, business, government, senior
citizens, youth, disabled, and environmen-
tal. Past recipients of this award are:
Completed nomination forms are due Mon-
day, January 31, 2005. For more information,
or to receive a nomination form, please con-
tact Charlotte Landsman, Manager of Youth
and Senior Services, at (847) 432-4110. Nomi-
nation forms may also be downloaded from
the Citys website at
cityhpil.com
.
Jack B. Blane
2004
Bruno Bertucci
2003
Karen Hamity-Kolman*
2003
Holly Kerr
2001
Marilyn Straus
2000
*Posthumous Recipient
Humanitarian Award Nomination
Forms Available
The Citys Character Counts! Committee is
now accepting applications for the 2005
Robert Barnard Character Counts! Pillar
Award.
The committees goal is to spotlight people
from all segments of our community who ex-
emplify one or more of the six pillars of char-
acter: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsi-
bility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. The
deadline for award nominations is Monday,
January 31, 2005, and the ceremony honor-
ing the award winner(s) is planned for the
beginning of April.
For more information, or to receive a nomi-
nation form, please contact Charlotte
Landsman, Manager of Youth and Senior Ser-
vices, at (847) 432-4110. Nomination forms
are also available on the Citys website at
cityhpil.com
.
Character Counts! Pillar Award
Nominations
Bridge Club
The Highland Park Senior Center invites
bridge players to join a newly formed Ameri-
can Contract Bridge League Sanctioned
Open Game. The game will be held every
Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Karger Recre-
ation Center, 1850 Green Bay Road. The fee
is $7 for Senior Center members, and $8 for
non-members. Directed by Bob Burke, the
game offers a light lunch, ample parking and
a newly decorated facility. For additional in-
formation, please contact Laura Frey, Senior
Center Program Supervisor, at (847) 432-4110
or via e-mail at lfrey@cityhpil.com.
Jerry Rudman
1999
Ruth Buhai
1998
Grace Mary Stern
1997
Janet Freund
1996
Len Abrahamson*
1996
The Citys Annual Holiday Lighting festivi-
ties are scheduled to take place on Saturday,
November 20, 2004. Pre-lighting festivities
are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Re-
naissance Plaza, on Green Bay Road, be-
tween Central Avenue and Elm Place. The
festivities will continue at 2:30 p.m. with car-
olers performing at Port Clinton Square, 600
Central Avenue. Other featured attractions
include:
3:30 p.m.
A childrens choir will perform at Port Clinton
Square
4:00 p.m.
Refreshments Served at Port Clinton Square
4:15 p.m.
Santa Arrives by Fire Truck, accompanied
by the Highland Park High School Marching
Band at Port Clinton Square
4:30 p.m.
Holiday Lighting Ceremony with Mayor
Michael Belsky and members of the City
Council
Come out early to shop downtown Highland
Park for the Holidays and stay for the Light-
ing Ceremony!
For more details, call Kelly Fuoco, the Citys
Business Relations Assistant, at (847) 926-
1027, or the Chamber of Commerce at (847)
432-0284.
On September 27, 2004, the City Council ap-
proved $210,000 for the asphalt paving of
the section of Deerfield Road that begins
west of the Richfield Road/Deerfield Road
intersection and extends to the Citys west-
ern border. This grind and overlay work be-
gan on Wednesday November 3
rd
and was
completed on Saturday, November 6
th
. This
improvement is the final phase of road work
associ