Skender Completes Renovation on 101-Unit Seniors Housing Facility in South Chicago

Skender, serving as general contractor, recently completed construction on Salud Center, a 101-unit, 140,000-square-foot senior residential building in South Chicago at 3039 E. 91st Street. The facility provides affordable housing for low-income seniors and is operated by the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) and Claretian Associates, a nonprofit housing developer and community services provider based in South Chicago.

As occupied rehab construction, Skender and POAH coordinated the temporary relocation of the families and seniors living in the building while individual units were renovated. Occupied rehab requires careful construction sequencing and logistics to ensure safe, smooth delivery and minimal interference with residents’ lives. Working in five-day construction cycles, Skender turned around six units per week at Salud Center, including new flooring, lighting and plumbing trim in unit bathrooms and kitchens.

In addition to the individual unit renovations, Skender also renovated the common areas, including cafeteria/multipurpose room, restrooms, a fitness center, and office space for Claretian Associates, which will run some of its operations out of the building. Skender also completed a full upgrade of the boiler room equipment, replacement of the façade exterior insulation finishing system, and a new thermoplastic polyolefin roof.

Skender collaborated with developers and co-owners POAH and Claretian Associates, as well as architects Architrave, Ltd. (commercial and office) and Canopy Architecture & Design (residential) on this project. Over the past decade, Skender has completed nearly 2,000 units of occupied rehab projects for several clients, including POAH, Preservation Partners, Vitus Group and Catholic Charities.