Application deadlines approaching for 18th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards

Celebrated annual awards recognize excellence in community development and architectural achievements in Chicago’s neighborhoods.

 

Chicago, IL – Chicago is known internationally as the “City of Neighborhoods” – a mosaic of vibrant interlocking communities and the people and projects that make them so. Eighteen years ago, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, (LISC/Chicago), created The Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards — CNDA — to celebrate the best community development efforts in Chicago’s neighborhoods, and the community and for-profit organizations behind them. Attended by more than 1,400 people, the Awards have become a source of both recognition and inspiration for those committed to community vitality and renewal.

Each year, awardees are selected for five separate community development and three architectural excellence awards, through an extensive juried process that includes architects, funders and community leaders. Eligible nominees include for-profit and non-profit developers and organizations as well as architectural firms, and may be self-nominated or nominated by others. Applications for the five Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards are due by 5PM, Wednesday, September 14, and applications for the three Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design are due by 5PM, Friday, September 16. Applications are submitted online at www.lisc-cnda.org.

Four Award categories are open to Chicago-area organizations for application:

·         $20,000: The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Initiative Award. Recognizes the development and successful implementation of an initiative that promotes and/or is integral to a comprehensive community development strategy. 

·         $15,000: The Richard H. Driehaus Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate. Recognizes a community development corporation for a specific real estate project that has contributed significantly to the enhancement of the community.

·         $15,000: The Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award. Recognizes a for-profit developer or a non-profit community development organization for a specific real estate project that has preserved affordable rental housing at risk because of expiring subsidy contracts or physical deterioration. 

·         The Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award. Recognizes a for-profit developer for a specific real estate project that has contributed significantly to the enhancement of the community.  A monetary award is not made for this recognition.

In addition, applications are being accepted for the Richard H. Driehaus Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design. These awards are given to architects who have created outstanding designs in housing, retail or institutional settings that are sustainable, architecturally significant and that match form to function to meet community needs.

First, second and third place awards carry with them monetary awards of $15,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively and are juried separately by a panel of architects, funders and community development leaders. Projects must be located in a low- to-moderate-income community or serve a low-to-moderate income population in Cook County, and must have been completed within the last four years.

Finally, nominations are also sought for the Special Recognition Award, given at the discretion of the Awards Committee to an organization that has shown promise as a new or emerging organization, or has achieved a pivotal or innovative community development project, or has been a critical provider of services to the community development field. There is no formal application process for this award. Nominations can be submitted online. The award is $5,000.

Award-winners will be notified in in the late Fall and recognized at the CNDA Awards ceremony on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, at the Hilton Chicago. To apply and for more information on project eligibility and rules, please visit www.lisc-cnda.org.