Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Apartments | April 22, 2021

City Council Enacts Lightfoot’s Revisions to Affordable Ordinance

Chicago’s City Council on Wednesday approved the revised Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) recently introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The revised ARO is intended to encourage production of more affordable and family-sized units.

First enacted in 2015, the ARO requires residential developments to set aside a percentage of units at affordable prices if the project entails a zoning change, city financial assistance or city-owned land.

A key revision to the ARO is the increase in the set-aside from 10% to 20% for projects downtown, in neighborhoods with low levels of affordable housing, and in neighborhoods facing displacement of low-income residents. It also reduces the percentage of units that may be paid out with in-lieu fees.

“The passage of this ordinance ensures that the ARO will house Chicagoans regardless of their economic status or where they choose to live,” said Ald. Harry Osterman, chair of the Council’s housing & real estate committee.

Connect

Inside The Story

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).