Update:  I just received a Press Release from Gov Quinn about this project:  Press Release

by:  Diane Benjamin

A company called Brinshore Development bought 26 properties in Bloomington-Normal with the plans to rehab them.  The houses will then be rented to low income individuals at prices set as a percentage of their income.  The Pantagraph had printed only 4 properties were in Normal, that was incorrect according to the information I received under the Freedom of Information Act.   You can see the entire response here:  Response Doc

The developer is receiving Federal Tax Credits through the Illinois Housing Development authority.  I’ve been researching these properties all morning.  Many originally had  loans through the Federal Government – more of your money.

The original story printed by the Pantagraph claimed these properties were the worst of the worst.  Nobody else wanted them, so this group stepped in to help.  I’m not familiar with all these roads, but at least some are NOT in blighted areas.

A little history:

Federal public housing buildings were tried – they were a miserable failure.  Think Cabrini Green

The Feds then forced banks to loan money to people who couldn’t afford the payments – that led to the housing bubble and crash

Now the Feds have a new plan:  Mixed income housing:  http://www.useful-community-development.org/mixed-income-housing.html

Is affordable housing a RIGHT?  Our founding documents say our rights come from God.  Man-made rights can be taken away, the ones from God can’t.

Social Justice is the new term.  Yes, some low income people will be able to rent nice housing based on their income.  They will also become slaves to low incomes because if they succeed and better themselves, bye-bye subsidized housing.

Is keeping people permanently in poverty justice?

“I am for doing good to the poor, but…I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

― Benjamin Franklin

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Here are the addresses of the properties:

Bloomington:                                Normal:

905 E Walnut                                   400 E Locust

1 Woodruff Dr                                  1003 Bull

217 Woodland                                  902 Timothy Court

912 W Front                                     1309 Hansen Dr

203 W Kelsey                                   1417 Kingsridge

435 Priscilla                                      913 Adelaide

706 E Front                                      Lot on Kern street 14-32-226-038

1507 1/2 W Locust                          1110 W Hovey

408 Krietzer

Lots 24 and 25 in block 5 in Southview addition Bloomington  21-03-461-009

816 W Mill

403 1/2 Bissell

903 S Madison

1211 Sandburg

506 S Clayton

1002 W Grove 21-05-414-005  Appears to be a lot

407 W Wood

2321 Anchor Dr

906 N Mason

1417  Eastholme