Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE), the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages and multifamily housing, today announced a new and expanded "HouseChicago" seven-year, $55 billion investment plan to finance affordable housing for 500,000 Chicago and area families. Mayor Richard M. Daley, U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (D-IL), Alderman Arenda Troutman (20th Ward), Rick Daniel of the W.N. Daniel Foundation, Inc. and Reverend Gerald Dew of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church joined local housing partners and Jamie Gorelick, vice chair of Fannie Mae, for today’s announcement.

HouseChicago is the largest single housing investment in the city’s history and the largest investment made by Fannie Mae through a Partnership Office. The announcement was made at Antioch Homes II in Englewood, the groundbreaking site of 57 new affordable apartments made possible through Fannie Mae’s $3.9 million investment in the property that qualifies for the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.

"Antioch Homes II is a strong example of our continued commitment to neighborhoods throughout Chicago. We’re excited to expand our efforts to help more families find affordable housing in the city," said Fannie Mae’s Gorelick. "Together with our partners, we have created an expanded plan that will allow us to address the unique housing needs of the entire Chicago area. We’re building on our work with many of our partners and working with the people who best understand local housing needs to stretch our business goals and help more families."

"Today’s commitment by Fannie Mae to invest $55 billion in Chicago is unprecedented. It is great news for families throughout the neighborhoods of our city," said Mayor Daley. "Owning a home is part of the American dream as well as key to revitalizing our neighborhoods and improving our communities and schools. Fannie Mae has been a longstanding partner to the city, local lenders, nonprofits, and the housing industry in creating homeownership and affordable housing opportunities that truly make a difference in peoples’ lives."

"Homeownership represents the easiest way for America’s families to create personal wealth and serves as the cornerstone of economic security," said Rep. Rush. "With Fannie Mae’s investment plan and expansion in our area, combined with other affordable-housing initiatives in Chicago, we can continue our progress toward meeting our housing needs, rejuvenating our neighborhoods, and strengthening our communities."

As part of the $55 billion HouseChicago announcement Fannie Mae highlighted the company’s commitment to neighborhood revitalization through the new construction of Antioch II, affordable apartment units being built in Englewood. The new $7.4 million development spans a three block area from 63rd Street to 66th Street along Normal Avenue, and was made possible through a partnership between Illinois Housing Development Authority, Harris Bank, Apollo Housing Capital LLC, Antioch Baptist Church Foundation, and Fannie Mae. Antioch II includes 57 rental townhouses, 24 two-bedroom and 33 three-bedroom. The apartments range in size from 1000 square feet to 1,300 square feet and are extremely affordable. Rents will start as low as $189 a month.

"The Antioch Homes II development is a symbol of the continued effort by the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church to create affordable housing opportunities for the residents of Englewood," said Rev. Dew. "I am honored to celebrate this partnership and committed to furthering the vision of the late Pastor Wilbur N. Daniel." The Antioch Missionary Baptist Church has been a pillar in the Englewood Community of Chicago for over 40 years. In addition to providing religious and social services, the church group has been instrumental in the development of affordable housing in the Englewood community.

In addition to Antioch Homes II and the financial commitments announced today, several key Fannie Mae initiatives underway in Chicago were highlighted, including:

Affordable Rental Housing. Recognizing that not every family is ready for homeownership, affordable rental housing is a critical housing issue in Chicago. Fannie Mae has invested more than $817 million in multifamily properties throughout the city, providing safe, affordable housing for nearly 32,000 families. Fannie Mae will continue to support rental housing in the single-family stock by significantly increasing its financing for owner-occupied, 2-4 unit properties over the next seven years. Fannie Mae’s new Community 2-FamilySM and Community 3-4 FamilySM are now available in Chicago and offer higher qualifying ratios with very low down payments.

Anti-Predatory Lending Experiment. Fannie Mae worked closely with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and the Northwest Neighborhood Federation to make available a $5 million anti-predatory refinance initiative to help Chicago families refinance very high interest rate loans to save their homes from foreclosure and preserve home equity.

The City of Chicago/Allstate Home Improvement Program. With more than 73 percent of the City’s housing stock built before 1953, and more than $300 million spent on home renovations each year, Fannie Mae joined the City of Chicago, Allstate and Countrywide to bring a below-market rate (6.5 percent) rehabilitation mortgage product with flexible underwriting terms to communities throughout the City.

Location Efficient Mortgagecm (LEMcm). Chicago is among the first regions in the United States to have access to the LEM, a mortgage initiative tailored to encourage homeownership by linking the region’s housing and public transportation resources. The LEM is designed for home buyers who purchase a home in a densely populated community that has efficient public transportation, and allows a portion of the buyer’s potential savings on transportation to be considered as additional borrower income in qualifying for a mortgage. That potential savings, called the Location Efficient Value, is calculated by a computerized mapping tool developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that promotes ecological, economic, and community development initiatives. The LEM has no income limits and offers more flexibility than standard mortgage financing, including low down payment requirements.

Welcome Initiative. Through the Welcome Initiative, Fannie Mae’s first comprehensive effort to serve the entire immigrant community, the company offers new underwriting flexibilities through its lender partners that allow immigrant borrowers to apply for a home loan even if they are only in the process of obtaining a green card, or do not have a complete U.S. income and credit history. Fannie Mae will consider alternative sources of qualifying income such as boarder income and part-time employment.

Multicultural Homeownership Initiative. Fannie Mae’s multicultural homeownership initiative is designed to provide our lender partners with tools, services and strategy development to assist them in reaching out to multicultural communities. Fannie Mae has committed to work with selected lenders, community developers, counseling agencies, churches, real estate professionals, and key housing advocates to close the homeownership gap between minorities and non-minorities by supporting minority and immigrant borrowers who are on the path to owning a home.

In 1995, Fannie Mae and the City of Chicago created "HouseChicago," a commitment by Fannie Mae to provide $10 billion in financing over seven years and to increase homeownership and rental housing opportunities for more than 125,000 families. In June 1998 Fannie Mae expanded the plan to a ten-year $12 billion commitment, at the request of the City of Chicago, to coincide with the city’s five-year $1.2 billion affordable housing plan. Since "HouseChicago" first was launched, 42 percent of the mortgage loans Fannie Mae has purchased from lenders went to first-time home buyers, 43 percent to minority home buyers and 62 percent went to low- and moderate-income borrowers. Today’s announcement represents the expansion of Fannie Mae’s commitment to the entire six-county Chicago land area.

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