Fifth Third Bank to invest $20 million in Chicago’s opportunity zones

Fifth Third Bank has signed onto Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign to transform business districts on the city’s South and West sides.

The bank announced Monday it will invest about $20 million into qualified opportunity zones identified by the city’s Invest South/West initiative, which is designed to bring public and private dollars to designated communities that have suffered from disinvestment over the years.

Chicago has 135 economically distressed areas that are “opportunity zones" and could be entitled to big tax breaks for significant investments in housing, technology and real estate. The mayor’s planning commissioner, Maurice Cox, is leading the Invest South/West initiative aimed at revitalizing these economically distressed areas.

Fifth Third has partnered with Decennial, the group behind the planned redevelopment of the former Michael Reese Hospital site near McCormick Place. Decennial, launched by Scott Goodmana co-founder of developer Sterling Bay and Steve Glickman, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, is working to raise $1 billion to help boost struggling neighborhoods in Chicago and other U.S. cities.

Decennial plans to use Fifth Third’s investment to develop “high-quality, affordable housing,” the company said in a new release. The funding will be earmarked for affordable housing, workforce housing and “other community priorities for multifamily housing developments," the company said.

Fifth Third’s contribution is part of the bank’s $100 million pot being allocated to underserved areas around the country.

Other businesses involved in the city’s development initiative include Starbucks and BMO Harris.

crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

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