Project Impacts:
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Over 4500 individuals served on an annual basis, 70% expected to be low income.
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Create 100+ construction jobs and 21 new FTEs for local residents
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Projected 32% of construction contracts to be awarded and allocated to Minority-Owned or Women-Owned Enterprises
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Provide below market rents to local tenants, non-profits, and community development organizations
PARTNERS:
NCIF: $7 million NMTC allocation; $2 million in loans
CDFI Partner: Self-Help Federal Credit Union
Large Bank: US Bank
Seaway Chatham is part of the Self-Help Federal Credit Union organization with 27 federally chartered, non-profit credit union branches in Chicago, Milwaukee, and across California. Prior a 2017 merger with Self-Help Credit Union, the site of the project served as the headquarters of Seaway National Bank, a minority owned depository institution where, since 1965, it served the banking needs of the Chatham Neighborhood, a predominately African American community on Chicago’s South Side.
The financing provided by NCIF and its partners will renovate a 39,681 sq. ft. building to accommodate the revitalization of the branch which will not only continue to provide the community with the financial services it has provided since 1965, but will also provide space for community development-focused tenants including Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and the Greater Chatham Initiative.
“We are thrilled to be beginning construction on the modernization of the legacy Seaway building in Chatham. The renovation will accommodate a revamped credit union branch, Neighborhood Housing Services’ Southside Hub and multiple other community development-focused tenants. It will also provide a community meeting facility equipped with high-quality A/V equipment available to tenants and community groups. As a community services hub, the renovated facility will foster partnerships and build opportunity across South Side Chicago for years to come.”
Daryl Newell
President of Seaway, a Division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union