Unlocking Evanston's Potential: A $1 Million Boost for Innovative Development

Evanston, a city with ambitious goals for affordable housing, sustainability, and community development, has received a significant boost in the form of a $985,000 federal grant. The grant, awarded through the U. S. Department of Transportation's Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program, will enable the city to leverage local, regional, and national expertise to develop a strategy for harnessing the potential of its city-owned land near the Chicago Transit Authority's Purple Line. The grant will be used to build the city's capacity to evaluate and leverage its assets for innovative finance and delivery options. This includes hiring staff to lead the project, managing external experts, and coordinating with various government agencies. The aim is to form public-private partnerships that could lead to new housing, businesses, and revenue-generating opportunities around the stations. Evanston's grant is one of only two in Illinois, with the other being a $630,000 award to Chicago State University to study sites along the 95th Street corridor. The grant is part of a five-year program to provide public entities with $100 million to increase the value of taxpayer-owned assets. The program is expected to help develop tens of thousands of units of housing in the coming decade.