The active adult community named Lofts on the Square is fully rented. Pictured is the lobby.

BELLEVILLE, ILL. – The Southwestern Illinois Development Authority (SWIDA) and Bywater Development Group have completed the $14.2 million transformation of a 90-year-old building in Belleville into an affordable active adult community named Lofts on the Square. The building opened in 1931 as Hôtel Belleville. It was remodeled in the early 1960s and converted into a residential community for seniors known as the Meredith Home. The building sat vacant for 10 years before SWIDA and Bywater acquired it from the city for $600,000. In 2018, the property earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for federal and state historic tax credits.

Holland Construction Services served as the general contractor for the renovation project. Units are designated for residents age 55 and older who earn 60% or less of the area’s median income. The six-story building features 47 units and over 3,000 square feet of retail space at street level. Facilities include a common room, library, computer lab, exercise room and storage facilities.

Blank, Wesselink, Cook & Associates and Kaskaskia Engineering Group LLC, who handled the engineering, joined Holland on the construction team; Rent Facility Planning Inc. for interior design; and WJW Architects, Mike Jerabek and Jane Sloss for architectural services. Michael Allen of the Preservation Research Office served as historical consultant.

Lofts on the Square is fully leased. Monthly rents range from $550 to $750. Beacon Property Management is the property manager.

SWIDA and Bywater received $930,792 in affordable tax credits through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA); $2.3 million in historic federal tax credits through the National Park Service; and $2.3 million in Illinois State Historic Tax Credits through the Illinois State Office of Historic Preservation. These three tax credit awards generated approximately $12.5 million of equity investment in PNC Bank. A $1.3 million loan from IHDA’s HOME program funds and $472,000 in developer loans completed the financing.