Apartments for 82 veterans will open soon in Chicago Heights on the site of the former St. James Hospital.
deputy assistant secretary for Public and Indian Housing, is joined by other dignitaries,
including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, to his right, at the Sept. 13
ribbon-cutting ceremony for Otto Veterans Square in Chicago Heights.
(Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)
The new Otto Veterans Square building, 1440 Otto Boulevard, is on the southeast corner of the block where the hospital once stood. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Sept. 13. Move-in at the $30.8-million building is expected in the next few weeks.
“Chicago Heights worked with us, and it’s a great example of reuse of a site. To have this as a signature piece of the old hospital site is amazing to see,” said Richard J. Monocchio, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Public and Indian Housing.
He recalled walking the site with Kristin Faust of the Illinois Housing Development Authority in 2019, “and I said we’re going to build veterans housing here. IHDA has been vital to our success” along with the Housing Authority of Cook County.
“The first new construction through Cook County Housing Authority is veterans housing and that was done purposefully. One of the major successes we’ve had in this country is reducing the incidence of veteran homelessness. We should all be proud of that. Since 2010, we’ve reduced veteran homelessness by 52%,” Monocchio told the audience.
The four-story building includes apartments, meeting rooms, social areas and is designed to meet the needs of disabled veterans. For example, for those with support animals the building includes a pet washing station.
When planning the building, Monocchio said HUD partnered with the VA to make certain veteran residents had a holistic network of care. Resources will be available to vets through partnerships with the VA and the local nonprofit Respond Now based in Chicago Heights.
The VA services will be an onsite, including a social worker, healthcare and mental health counseling, and access to peer support specialists. Respond Now will offer case management, access to community resources and emergency assistance.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said: “Today marks an important step in our ongoing commitment to ensuring that every veteran in Cook County has access to safe, dignified and affordable housing. Otto Veterans Square is more than just a building; it is a testament to our dedication to the men and women who have served our country and a meaningful contribution to the revitalization of Chicago Heights.”
The building is under the auspices of the Housing Authority of Cook County, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, the National Equity Fund, BMO Bank, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Wintrust Bank, the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program and Nicor.
Monocchio said projects like Otto Veterans Square “represent the pinnacle of what we can achieve when the federal government supports the vision of local leaders and public, private, and non-profit partners.
“It has to keep going because that’s what we need in this country. For this administration we’re going to provide, build, create between 2 and 3 million apartments. The president’s State of the Union address, he was the first president in 50 years to talk about housing. We’ve had a disinvestment in housing, and that’s got to change. It starts here because these are the heroes we should be building for.”