Chicago’s development community will soon face penalties when demolishing certain residential structures on the city’s Northwest Side.
The city’s fight against gentrification took a significant step forward Wednesday, when the city council passed the Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance, Block Club reported.
The legislation, spearheaded by aldermen Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Daniel La Spata and Jessie Fuentes, imposes penalties on developers who demolish two-, three- and four-flat apartment buildings — structures that have long housed middle- and working-class residents.
Developers will face surcharges of $20,000 per unit and $60,000 per building if they choose to tear down these types of buildings.
The ordinance, set to take effect next month, aims to protect housing affordability in rapidly changing neighborhoods such as Hermosa, Logan Square, Avondale, West Town and Humboldt Park.
“We’ve been doing our homework, and we know that action must be taken to preserve housing affordability in our communities,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
The ordinance was overwhelmingly supported, with only three of the 50 aldermen voting against it. Alderman William Conway called it “terrible economic policy” and argued it could reduce housing supply by discouraging new developments.
However, proponents of the ordinance see it as a necessary safeguard against the rapid displacement of long-term residents, many of whom no longer see a future in their respective communities.
“The No. 1 concern that I hear every day in my office: ‘I can’t afford to live here anymore,’” Fuentes said. “Our communities are under real threat of gentrification and displacement”
The ordinance directly addresses this by giving tenants the right of first refusal when their building goes up for sale, empowering renters to purchase the property before it can be sold to developers.
The ordinance builds on the success of a 2021 pilot program that protected similar multifamily buildings along the 606 trail and in Pilsen.
Under that program, developers faced surcharges of $5,000 per unit and $15,000 per building for demolitions. The fees were directed to affordable housing trusts, a practice that will continue under the new ordinance, but with higher surcharge rates aimed at preserving more housing stock.
Read more
Residential
Chicago
Brookfield offloading massive Northwest Side apartment complex
Development
Chicago
Big developments from heavy hitters greenlit for 1,500 apartments
Residential
Chicago
Embattled apartment landlord reaches settlement with city
The ordinance also legalizes the construction of two-flats within boundaries zoned for single-family homes, promoting even more housing options in these gentrifying areas. The ordinance “will help protect the diversity and historic character of our neighborhoods,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
— Andrew Terrell