Chicago’s Granny Flat Program Falls Flat

Chicago’s push to bring back coach houses and other accessory dwelling units hasn’t delivered the kind of small-scale housing boom city leaders once envisioned.

Four years after the city launched its pilot ADU program, only 373 units have been built, according to Chicago Cityscape estimates reported by Crain’s. Most of those — 255, or about 68 percent — are basement rehabs in multi-unit buildings. Only 81 backyard units, including garage-top flats and new standalone structures, have been completed.

Architect Jim Hall, who designed multiple ADU prototypes after the ordinance passed in 2021, said none of his projects have started construction. Construction estimates of $275,000 to $300,000 caused several clients to back out, he said.

“This was always a small-number tool,” said Marisa Novara, a former housing commissioner who helped launch the program.

Still, housing advocates say the city has fallen short of its stated goals, in part due to cost and permitting challenges, but also because the program is confined to five zones.

Other cities have leaned hard into ADUs as a tool for affordability and gentle density. Los Angeles built more than 8,000 in 2022 alone. But Chicago has yet to scale. A proposed ordinance to expand the program citywide has been stalled for two years, despite backing from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s team and Alderman Bennett Lawson, who introduced the measure in 2023.

The proposal has been held up amid an ongoing federal investigation, sources said. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a complaint two years ago accusing Chicago’s tradition of aldermanic prerogative of limiting affordable housing construction in majority-white neighborhoods, a dynamic that could affect where ADUs are allowed.

A 2022 Zillow survey found that 71 percent of Chicagoans liked the idea of building an ADU. Some historical coach houses have sold well above asking. But advocates warn that until restrictions are lifted and permitting is streamlined, ADUs will be a missed opportunity in Chicago’s broader housing strategy.

— Judah Duke