Analysis of Chicago’s Affordable Requirement Ordinance Data
The Affordable Requirements Ordinance, the City of Chicago’s inclusionary housing policy, was first created in 2003 to promote affordable housing as was a major victory for housing activists. It’s 2007 iteration required approved projects covered to set-aside 10% of units for affordable housing (20% if receiving city financial assistance) or pay $100,000 into a fund for affordable housing. For sale housing units needed to be affordable to households below 100% of Area Median Income (AMI) and rental units needed to be affordable to households below 60% of AMI. The 2015 amendment to the ordinance significantly adjusted the framework, separating out developments in low-to-moderate, high-income and downtown zones, setting in-lieu payment fees between $50,000 to $225,000 per unit, and setting more stringent requirements for including at least a portion of the units in the subject development. In 2017, a new Pilot program was created for the rapidly gentrifying areas of Logan Square, Near West Side and Near North Side (and expanded to Pilsen and Little Italy in early 2019) that went further in creating a units integrated into the approved developments covered under the Ordinance. If that doesn’t make it abundantly clear, the policy implemented by the Department of Planning & Development (DPD) is certainly a maze to navigate.
