City of Life

Six years ago, long before downtown Elgin showed any signs of life, the city approached the Northwest Housing Partnership for ideas about redeveloping an abandoned hotel in the city’s center. Henry Zuba, who worked with suburban market rate developers before launching his own firm focusing on affordable housing, was on the partnership board. "I felt very skeptical about the project, but the board thought it was important and asked me to take it on," he recalled. "I talked to several lenders, and CIC was the only one who would do it" on terms that were feasible.

The other banks didn’t understand rehab, tax credits or affordable housing and, Zuba said, "they weren’t even appreciative of their own downtowns." CIC not only was willing to loan the money, "they were confident in the project, understood what we needed and what the project could support. They knew we could make an abandoned building attractive to 45 tenants," including fixing up a large lobby as a common social space rather than packing the building full of housing units.

CIC also has "one of the best systems of monthly construction inspections, visiting the project on a regular basis and making suggestions without being overbearing." Now the old hotel has a waiting list – mainly retirees and older widows – and there’s new investment all around it. "The city gave us a lot of credit for turning around downtown," Zuba said.