Housing Trust Fund Board

The Housing Trust Fund Board meets from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at City Hall, 2^nd floor conference room.  The 2012 meeting schedule has not been finalized yet.  An agenda and public notice are posted prior to the meetings.  Please contact the Community Development Department for information at 847-810-3503.  

The Housing Trust Fund Board provides financial resources to address the City's affordable housing needs by promoting, preserving, and producing long-term affordable housing; providing housing-related services; and, providing support for not-for-profit organizations that actively address the City's affordable housing needs. The Housing Trust Board was appointed by the City Council to lead the City's affordable housing initiatives. The Board advises the City Council on affordable housing matters, administers the requirements of the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, manages and administers the expenditure of the Trust Fund dollars, and actively pursues opportunities to create new affordable housing through the development or purchasing of housing units.

Background Information

Throughout its history, The City of Lake Forest has offered a diverse housing stock that permitted households and families of varying income levels to reside in the community. Neighborhoods and housing units in and around the Central Business District were built to provide modest housing for the men and women who worked on the estates or ran businesses on Western Avenue. The chauffeurs, the gardeners and the shopkeepers, to name a few, were an integral part of the community and required living in close proximity to where they worked. The West Park neighborhood and others like it were born out of this necessity for affordable housing in the community, as summed up in this description by local historians Arthur Miller and Shirley Paddock.

A century after its creation in 1907, the park and neighborhood have developed much as laid out by architect and planner Howard Van Doren Shaw. The area was planned with lots of “modest prices and generous terms” (5 years to pay off). The lots were sold at auction in July 1907 and could only be bought by members of The Young Men’s Club. The goal was to provide attractive modest housing to draw and retain a better class of family oriented people who were increasingly required to serve the estate community of Chicagoans here (in Lake Forest). The early lot owners and residents of the neighborhood were mostly working in small businesses or public service.

In recent decades, property values have escalated to the point of discouraging a diverse housing stock. Some families that currently live and work in Lake Forest are unable to meet or maintain the household income level necessary for homeownership in the community and, therefore, must look outside Lake Forest for housing. These households, such as seniors, families, and professionals in the field of education and healthcare among others, are part of the fabric of daily life in Lake Forest. Affordably priced senior and workforce housing opportunities will help ensure that these groups can continue to impart a direct, immediate and positive impact on the quality of life in Lake Forest.

More about the Housing Trust Fund Board and Affordable Housing