Housing & Real Estate Committee
Ordinance: Equitable Development
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago ("City") is a home rule unit of government under Section 6(a), Article Vll of the 1970 Constitution ofthe State of Illinois and may exercise any power related to its local governmental affairs; and
WHEREAS, the City has the fastest developing downtown area of any major U.S. city, and the downtown residential housing market is expected to add nearly 5,000 new residential units over the next year; and
WHEREAS, while many ofthe City's neighborhoods are benefiting from economic growth, resulting in the displacement of low-income residents, other neighborhoods have still to recover from the recession or the unprecedented downturn in the housing market; and
WHEREAS, the City continues to experience a shortage of affordable housing, especially in high-income and gentrifying neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the lack of affordable housing is a critical problem, which threatens the economic and social quality of life in the City; and
WHEREAS, the passage ofthis reform ordinance will result in the creation of more affordable housing units in all areas ofthe City, including high-income and gentrifying areas; and
WHEREAS, as part of the City affordable housing program, the commissioner of planning and development will investigate securing non-city resources and incentives for maximizing the creation of affordable housing, including real estate property tax credits for owners of buildings that maintain affordable housing units;
WHEREAS, the 2007 ARO and 2015 ARO have failed to produce a meaningful number of affordable housing units on-site in developing areas, generating only 441 affordable units onsite between 2007 and 2017 and thus failing to achieve the intended effect of inclusionary development; and
WHEREAS, there is a particularly dire shortage of affordable family-sized housing, which threatens the stability and funding of public schools in gentrifying communities as ...
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