Portfolio Health Initiative Mid-Year Update

Background

Maintaining a healthy, stable stock of affordable housing is essential to preserving access and stability for renters across Chicago. But properties in our subsidized affordable housing system are under growing strain—from rising operating costs to staffing shortages and regulatory complexity. Understanding these pressures and developing thoughtful, coordinated responses is the focus of our Portfolio Health Initiative, a collaborative in partnership with the Illinois Housing Council (IHC). 

Launched in fall 2024, the Portfolio Health Initiative brings together subsidized affordable housing stakeholders from across the industry to assess the financial and operational health of Illinois’ affordable housing stock and identify practical strategies to strengthen it.  

Minnesota’s Housing Stability Efforts

As part of our ongoing joint Portfolio Health Initiative, in partnership with the Illinois Housing Council (IHC), this winter, we welcomed friends of the Preservation Compact Ellen Sahli, President of the Family Housing Fund, and Andrea Brennan from the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF), who shared insights from Minnesota’s Housing Stability Coalition. Ellen and Andrea shared Minnesota’s multi-year statewide approach and strategy to address distress in subsidized housing market that arose from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Created in 2023, the Coalition came together to collaboratively confront the struggles of several major affordable housing providers and to work towards systemic solutions to stabilize existing housing stock and prevent future distress. The group is comprised of 36 organizations across the urban and rural housing landscape.

The Coalition launched a two-phase data initiative to define housing distress from both qualitative and quantitative angles. As part of this effort, a consultant conducted in-depth interviews with housing operators, owners, and funders, while also analyzing data on more than 26,000 affordable units. The research foregrounded tenant perspectives on post-COVID housing challenges. Findings—presented in March—surfaced critical risks to the sector, including rising insurance costs, staff turnover, and mounting financial instability. You can explore all their work here and access part I and II of this research project below:

• Report I: Distress Indicators – Operations and Property Subgroups
• Report II: Using Data to Characterize Distress on Regulated Properties and Housing Providers

In addition to their research efforts, last year, MN’s Coalition secured an additional $50M in state funding to expand a 2023 recapitalization program. The 2024 legislative session also created a statewide task force to advance policy and administrative solutions—highlighting the urgent need for both sustained funding and long-term systems reform to preserve affordable housing.

Chicago Area Portfolio Health Initiative Update

While Illinois’ housing landscape differs from Minnesota’s, the Coalition’s insights have been valuable to our work with IHC through the Portfolio Health Initiative. Drawing from Minnesota’s data-driven approach, we’ve launched quantitative analysis to assess the financial health of Illinois’ affordable housing stock.

As part of our ongoing Portfolio Health Initiative, we are focusing on several key priorities:

• Assessing the Landscape: Understanding the financial, physical, and operational health of Illinois’ affordable housing stock.
• Building Capacity: Supporting asset management training and professional development for housing providers.
• Fostering Collaboration: Creating stronger channels for communication and coordination across public agencies and between housing operators.
• Responding to Cost Pressures: Exploring solutions to rising operating costs, including insurance premiums and workforce retention.

In alignment with these goals, Enterprise Community Partners joined our most recent Portfolio Health Initiative meeting to learn from local housing providers to inform new asset management training resources, along with a professional development grant opportunity to attend the upcoming Consortium for Housing & Asset Management (CHAM) conference.

By learning from Minnesota’s data-driven and holistic approach, we are strengthening our ability to analyze housing in our state and understand preservation challenges and opportunities.

Thank you to the Chicago Community Trust (CCT) for generously funding the Portfolio Health Initiative.