Whether providing an equipment/working capital loan to open a retail store run by youth in Humboldt Park...Or helping a faith-based organization in Chicago Heights build supportive permanent housing...Or making it possible for a brand new social service agency to acquire and rehabilitate their facility in North Lawndale.

CCLF financing often makes the critical difference between whether a compelling development project moves forward or not. The loan fund is often the first to commit money to a project, paving the way for other lenders and funders to get comfortable with participating.

Our equity requirements are flexible and our loan-to-value ratios are more generous than many other lenders.

We offer 6 types of loans:

• Predevelopment Loan
• Construction Loan
• Minipermanent Mortgage Loan
• Housing Cooperative Loan
• Equipment/Working Capital Loan
• "For-Profit" Predevelopment or Construction Loan

Focus communities

Through experience, we have learned that certain neighborhoods need a more intense concentration of effort and resources to see a measurable change over time. CCLF has identified three such Chicago neighborhoods (North Lawndale, Englewood and Woodlawn)and designated them as "focus communities". CCLF has recently identified two suburban corridors (certain low-wealth north lakefront communities and the suburbs of southern Cook County) as focus communities as well.

This means that organizations and projects in these communities will receive special energy and attention--increased staff time, marketing/outreach, technical assistance and greater availability of loan dollars-to make projects happen. If your organization serves or works in one of our "focus" areas, contact our lending team and find out what CCLF can do for you!

Eligible Borrowers

• Nonprofit organizations, nonprofit/for-profit joint ventures, for-profit subsidiary of a nonprofit, housing or business cooperatives and small, disadvantaged for-profit firms.
• Socially beneficial development projects.
• Project sites located in the 6-county Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Will and Kane counties in Illinois).

Eligible Projects

• New construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of housing units
• Acquisition and rehabilitation of commercial real estate
• Equipment purchase or working capital for a community venture
• Economic development projects

Have questions? Feel free to contact our Lending Team.

Read about one of our focus communities: Woodlawn

Learn more about CCLF's loan application process: Here is our loan information packet.

Unfamiliar with some of the lending vocabulary? Look up those terms in our glossary!

WORKSHOPS

Are you a first-time developer? Feel like you need to learn more? Attend one of our Project Readiness Workshops!