New city Housing commissioner has a daunting task: Address affordability

Marisa Novara, just confirmed as head of the city’s Housing Department, has a directive: address Chicago’s affordable housing issue.

Novara, who had previously worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council, was confirmed by the City Council on Wednesday. Alderman Harry Osterman (48th), chairman of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, called her the “right person, at the right time to breathe life into the Department of Housing,” according to Curbed.

Mayor Lorie Lightfoot on Wednesday called affordable housing one of the city’s most pressing issues. “Particularly for families and for neighborhoods that are undergoing transformation,” she said, Curbed reported. “We want to make sure, whether they’re renters or homeowners, that people get to stay in their homes.”

Aldermen in recent years have made changes to the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, upping the amount of affordable housing developers must provide in certain new projects. But many in the industry have been critical of the new rules, saying they stifle development and end up reducing the number of new affordable housing developments. [Curbed] — John O’Brien