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CHICAGO-CharterMac is financing the 187-unit Senior Residences at Ravenswood, a multifamily rental building at 1818 W. Peterson Ave. where rents will be affordable to senior citizens earning less than 60% of the area median income. The New York City-based lender is writing a $20-million mortgage, and its CharterMac Capital is providing $9.7 million in tax credits, with the Chicago Housing Authority, Federal Home Loan Bank and Illinois Housing Development Authority contributing $8.6 million.

Rents for studio, one- and two-bedroom units in the nine-story building will start at $595. The building is being constructed on a 1.1-acre site formerly used by a local car dealer. It is the only senior building in the works, even though the area is expected to gain 230 new senior households a year.

"The development of Ravenswood is crucial to an area where there is a great void of affordable, senior housing," says CharterMac Capital executive vice president Eric Trucksess. Adds developer George Ardelean, "Ravenswood will help lessen the housing burden for some of the many income-restricted seniors in the area."