COMMUNITY INVESTMENT CORP

CIC's primary market niche is the privately owned rental housing (generally, five to 100 units) that constitutes the vast majority of affordable rental housing in Chicago and across the country. Within a context of increasing need, an aging housing stock, and very little new production, preservation of existing affordable rental housing is extremely important. In Cook County, there are 867,000 rental units, of which more than 500,000 will be occupied by households with incomes less than $30,000 in 2020. There is very little production of new rental housing; the county has lost more than 125,000 affordable rental units since 1990 and is expected to lose another 40,000 by 2020. Unfortunately, in the current economy, there is very little credit available for this purpose. With commitments from 37 banks, however, CIC has access to more than $200 million to finance the acquisition and rehab of affordable rental housing through 2020. Over the years, with prudent lending, hands-on loan servicing, and careful management, CIC has kept loan delinquencies and loan losses to remarkably low levels. As a result, CIC has been able to continue its lending activities despite challenging economic conditions. CIC operates as a Social Enterprise – generating income through its operations to cover operating costs and consistently generating an operating surplus. CIC has developed a wide array of financial and development services that broaden and strengthen CIC's impact on multifamily housing and community development in Chicago, including property management training; the Troubled Buildings Initiative (with the City of Chicago) to use code enforcement to save deteriorated buildings from abandonment and demolition; an Energy Savers multifamily loan program (with Elevate Energy); and areawide public policy development through The Preservation Compact.