LGBT Senior Housing Development To Go Ahead In Boystown
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A handful of housing projects designed specifically for LGBT senior citizens are springing up around the country, and Chicago is about to get one soon.
As WBBM Newsradio's Felicia Middlebrooks reports, Chicago will join Los Angeles; San Francisco; Philadelphia; and Santa Fe, N.M., in providing affordable housing units for gay and lesbian seniors.
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Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that plans for the development on the northwest corner of Halsted and Addison streets in Boystown are a go, and construction is set to begin next year.
A new six-story apartment building will be constructed, and the old Town Hall District police station at 3600 N. Halsted St. will be connected to, and incorporated into, the project, the Tribune reports.
Two other buildings on the site will be torn down, and the housing development will be linked to the Center on Halsted community center just to the north, the Tribune reports.
Back in May, the city sold the old police station for $1 to Heartland Housing Inc., which announced plans for the LGBT senior housing complex. The project was a final favor to the gay community from Mayor Richard M. Daley before he retired.
Senior housing has been seen as an unmet need among gays, many of whom want to stay in familiar neighborhoods as they age.
Housing cannot legally be restricted by sexual orientation, but the project's location right on the heart of the Boystown strip means its immediate market is seniors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
The old Town Hall District police station opened in 1907, and closed last year when a new station opened immediately to the west at 850 W. Addison St.
The Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.
