Aurora’s City Council has approved funding to build the final nine homes at Habitat Green Freedom, the city’s first net-zero smart neighborhood, clearing the way for the 8.5-acre subdivision near the intersection of Jericho Road and Edgelawn Drive to reach its full 17-home footprint by 2028. The council authorized just over $1.2 million in federal funding to Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley on September 22, along with a development agreement required to put that money to work.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the nine remaining homes — six three-bedroom units and three four-bedroom units — must be completed by February 28, 2028. Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley, a nonprofit that builds and repairs affordable housing across Cook, Kane and McHenry counties, will construct the homes and won’t have to repay the loan as long as it keeps the housing affordable for 20 years and complies with federal regulations. The funding came through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, a federal block grant under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development designed to create affordable housing, the paper reports.
The council had already approved initial funding for the nine homes back in February, with September’s vote finalizing the development agreement needed to release it. The first Habitat Green Freedom home was unveiled on November 12, 2025.
A Site Years in the Making
The 8.5-acre site was purchased in September 2021 using private and corporate grants, part of an effort estimated at $5.5 million for the full subdivision, according to Kane County Connects. That purchase let local Habitat efforts shift from scattered individual builds to a full master-planned community. Before homes could go up, a separate $1.25 million in Community Project Funding was allocated for infrastructure…