Preservation Proposal #1: Re-Invigorate the Housing Preservation efforts within the Department of Planning & Development
Return to 2019 Chicago Housing Agenda
The current Affordable Housing Preservation Ordinance adds to state and Federal protections of federally-supported affordable rental housing in requiring proper notification to the Department of Planning & Development addition to tenants if there re plans to alter federal affordability restrictions. Part of the strategy around housing preservation acknowledges the sheer number of properties and units are under contracts between governmental entities and both non-profit and for-profit landlords that can expire, be terminated or sold even when there is compelling need. While the Chicago Housing Authority is the largest landlord in Chicago, according to the National Housing Preservation Database, there are over current affordable rental housing developments n Chicago. and, across the state, there are over 10,000 affordable rental units at risk of less within the next 5 years (2018 Preservation Profile). Through requiring notification, the Ordinance sought to bolster current building residents as well as qualified affordable housing providers an opportunity for them to purchase the property before another party.
In recent years, Planning & Development expanded to the approach to the Single-Room Occupancy Ordinance seeking to ensure opportunities for preservation of this, often non-federal, housing stock to be preserved.
Federal housing preservation has also evolved, most notably with the creation of the the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). While most notable for facilitating the preservation of public housing through conversion to long-term Project-Based Voucher contracts, RAD also serves to provide various privately-owned federally-assisted or insured affordable housing a streamlined vehicle to assess identify capital needs and restructure it’s financial and subsidy structure for long-term
Housing preservation is a critical component of any comprehensive housing strategy, both in gentrifying communities where properties may be sold, in transitional neighborhoods where ensuring long-term stability is also important and in more distressed communities where subsidy programs can be leveraged as a catalyst for broader neighborhood improvements.
Proposal #1. Create an Housing Preservation Advisory Committee to aid the Department of Planning & Development in ensuring the effective preservation of affordable housing throughout Chicago. It will bring together leaders and representatives from multiple neighborhoods in Chicago, and help chart the new path forward for housing preservation in Chicago.
Proposal #2. Conduct public outreach to expand the list of Pre-Qualified Entities under Sec. 2-44-111 of the Chicago Municipal Code. Under the Affordable Housing Preservation Ordinance, this list of not-for-profit and for-profit developers (individuals, entities, and organizations) are kept by the Department of Planning & Development who must notify them when a property owner takes steps towards eliminating or changing it’s affordability restrictions. The Department & Planning Development would, also, create a more publicly-accessible process through which the new developers and owners could apply and publicize the list.
Proposal #3. Re-tool the strategy of the DPD’s Housing Strategy to more pro-actively use public and community data to identify and track properties that may become affordability risk or for which there are important opportunities for long-term preservation, like through HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration. This should include all SRO properties. Once identified, owners can be provided technical assistance for feasibility analysis and other forms of support.
