The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center Chicago

Developer: The Salvation Army
CDEs: City of Chicago Housing and Economic Development; Great Lakes Capital Fund; Park National Bank Initiatives; Consortium
Chicago, Ill.

Photo: Courtesy of Great Lakes Capital Fund
The Joan Kroc Corps Center in Chicago, Ill. provides family facilities, social services and enrichment programs.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 Metro QLICI of the Year award: The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center and the CDEs of City of Chicago Housing and Economic Development, Great Lakes Capital Fund, Park National Bank Initiatives and Consortium. Located in West Pullman, one of the Chicago’s most underserved and high-crime neighborhoods, this 127,000-square-foot facility brings the vision of the late Joan Kroc to life. When Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, entrusted The Salvation Army with $1.8 billion of her estate, the organization awarded the Chicago community center with $159.8 million. The Salvation Army then completed the funding by combining donations, which amounted to $47.8 million, and NMTC investments. The four CDEs pooled together $64 million in NMTC investments.

Opened in June 2012, The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center offers recreational and performing arts facilities, including an indoor sports complex, an aquatic center, outdoor stadium, a fitness center and a 600-seat performing arts center. The family life and education center also offers an array of job-training courses and workshops. The center now serves as a safe oasis in West Pullman, which has long been plagued by gang violence, drug use and poor educational performance. More than 250,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of the site, and of those, more than one-third are under the age of 18. By the center’s first anniversary in June 2013, more than 8,000 community residents had joined as members and more than 1,500 visit the center on an average weekend day.

In addition, the community center also has acted as an engine for economic stimulus in the area, and is expected to attract new businesses that will create hundreds of new jobs and boost economic stability. The community center has already created 200 permanent jobs and construction of the center created 220 jobs. The community center’s job readiness and training programs will also prepare numerous residents for steady jobs, elevating its job creation impact far beyond the size of its own employee base.

Congratulations to The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, and the CDEs of City of Chicago Housing and Economic Development, Great Lakes Capital Fund, Park National Bank Initiatives and Consortium for bringing new hope and economic opportunity to the South Side neighborhoods of Chicago.

Green City Growers Cooperative

Developer: Evergreen Real Estate Corporation
CDEs: HEDC New Markets Inc; PNC New Markets Investment Partners LLC
Cleveland, Ohio

Photo: Courtesy of The National Development Council
The Green City Growers Cooperative is a food production greenhouse that has contributed to job creation in Cleveland, Ohio.

Honorable mention for the 2013 Metro QLICI of the Year award goes to the National Development Council and its CDE, HEDC New Markets Inc., and PNC and its CDE, PNC New Markets Investment Partners LLC, for providing NMTC financing for Evergreen Real Estate Corporation to create an innovative urban agriculture venture. Green City Growers Cooperative, located in the highly distressed Central neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, opened its 5-acre campus in 2013. It currently produces 3 million heads of lettuce and 300,000 pounds of herbs annually.

Evergreen Real Estate Corporation used a variety of funding sources to finance this venture, including receiving $16.5 million in new markets tax credits from PNC Bank and the National Development Council. The campus currently employs 25 low-income residents, who earn a living wage salary, as well as healthcare and ownership opportunities. Creation of the campus also created 40 construction jobs.

Congratulations to the National Development Council, PNC and Evergreen Real Estate Corporation for their collaborative effort in creating economic opportunity.