McHenry County Housing Authority looks for new home after outgrowing current facility

After more than three decades at its spot in Woodstock, the McHenry County Housing Authority is looking for a new home.

Having outgrown its current 8,300-square-foot building, which is off Route 47 and has been the agency’s headquarters since 1987, it is seeking a new place to set up shop.

When it first moved into its current place, the housing authority had 16 staff members, Executive Director Kim Ulbrich said. Now, with 30, the current location is keeping the organization from growing further, she said.

“We’ve just outgrown it,” she said. “We’re limited on parking. We’ve got some of our staff in another office, some in the lobby, one department is working from home. ... There’s just nowhere to go.”

County Board Chairman Mike Buehler, R-Crystal Lake, said he thought it was time for an upgrade as well, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic and an uptick in homelessness as a result.

“If you’ve ever visited their current facility, you would whole-heartedly agree that they need a larger space,” he said.

The McHenry County Housing Authority is a state-chartered entity that aims to help low-income families and individuals find housing in the county. It is funded through grants and has participated in disabled and low-income housing projects and rental assistance programs since its inception in 1947, according to its website.

The lack of space has caused it to turn down funding opportunities from the state in the past since they didn’t have the needed staff, Ulbrich said. She added she doesn’t have an estimation of how many grants have been turned down.

Currently, the organization handles between 15 and 17 programs a year, Ulbrich said.

“We don’t have the capacity to do any more at this point,” she said.

To help the move, McHenry County has given the organization a $467,000 grant as part of the Advance McHenry County program. Ulbrich estimates the organization will need about $1.2 million in total for the move.

The old space also will be sold to help fund the move. Ulbrich said a nonprofit organization has shown interest in the property, but nothing is solidified yet.

Currently, the agency hasn’t yet found a new space, Ulbrich said. Adding to this, there’s not a lot of options in the area, she said. The hope is to make the move before some of its programming starts back up in the fall.

Ideally, that building will be anywhere from 12,000 to 14,000 square feet, Ulbrich said.

“We’re looking forward to see where they’re going to be moving to,” Buehler said. “Hopefully, it’ll be sooner rather than later.”

Once the move happens, future funding will depend on if the agency is able to grow its staff numbers, Ulbrich said. With the pandemic, federal funding has allowed it to expand in the past two years.

“It’s not going to be a rapid growth, but this will give us an opportunity to expand staff as we need to,” she said.