History
IN THE LATTER PART OF THE 1990S, THE CITY OF HIGHLAND PARK EMBARKED ON A MASTER PLANNING PROCESS to update the City's comprehensive Master Plan. As the master planning process continued, there was increasing concern about the lack of affordable housing and its negative impact on the City's tradition of inclusiveness. Based on a joint recommendation of the City's Human Relations, Plan and Historic Preservation Commissions, the City Council directed the Housing Commission to prepare an affordable housing plan to be incorporated in the City’s Master Plan. The City Council adopted the following goals to guide the process:
- To preserve, maintain and promote housing of high quality that reflects the community's commitment to cultural and economic diversity.
- To maintain and increase diversity in housing styles, sizes, types, densities and prices or rents in order to welcome a wider array of families and individuals into the community.
- To provide affordable housing that is an integral part of neighborhoods throughout the community.
Based on direction from the City Council and extensive research on affordable housing practices nationwide, the Housing Commission worked with the University of Illinois at Chicago's Natalie Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement and the Great Cities Institute to develop an affordable housing plan. A key recommendation in the plan was the creation of a community land trust to preserve the existing housing stock and develop new housing that will remain affordable in perpetuity. The model was found to be among the most effective and efficient models of affordable housing, particularly in high-cost areas such as Highland Park. In 2003, the Highland Park Illinois Community Land Trust (HPICLT) was established as an independent nonprofit, 501(C)(3) organization.
The HPICLT was extremely successful at expanding the supply of permanently affordable housing in Highland Park and received regional and even national attention for being at the forefront of affordable housing. Since its creation, the organization developed and/or preserved over 32 units of permanently affordable housing and leveraged over $5 million in public and private resources (non Highland Park funds) for affordable housing.
In July 2008, the HPICLT Board of Directors initiated a strategic planning process designed to thoughtfully guide the organization's future and establish key objectives and strategies that would most efficiently and effectively increase the supply of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households, taking full advantage of the valuable insights and experience gained during the organization’s early stages. As a result, the organization's name was changed to Community Partners for Affordable Housing and its bylaws were updated to reflect a more sustainable, best practice model that allows the organization to collaborate with other communities in the region.