Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about TOD ordinance

Logan Square Developer Would Rather Choose How Much Parking to Build

By Steven Vance | Sep 12, 2014 | 15 Comments

A site that’s currently a staging area for Your New Blue ‘L’ station renovation may soon be home to a transit-oriented mixed-use building. Property Markets Group has proposed a new apartment building for Logan Square that will provide half the normally required car parking, bringing needed housing with less congestion. Parking minimums for this and […]

Logan Square Transit-Oriented Development: Less Parking, More Walkability

By Steven Vance | Jul 30, 2014 | 23 Comments

A pioneering developer of car-free apartments is looking to continue building car-lite residences. Curbed Chicago reports that Rob Buono, who was behind constructing 1611 W Division in Wicker Park, is proposing two mid-rise residential towers in Logan Square along Milwaukee Avenue near the California Blue Line station. The two towers, one 14 stories and the […]

City Seeks Transit-Friendly Development Near Howard Station

By Steven Vance | Jun 5, 2014 | 15 Comments

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development is looking for the right developer for vacant city-owned property near the Howard CTA station. Last week, the city released a request for proposals for the 1.05 acre parcel at 7519-33 N Ashland Avenue, between Howard and Rogers Avenue, and asked specifically for transit-friendly and walkable development proposals. The site […]

City Approves Car-Lite Belmont-Clark Development

By Shaun Jacobsen | May 16, 2014 | 28 Comments

After several iterations since first being proposed last October, plans for a new building at Clark and Belmont in Lakeview were approved by the city’s Plan Commission on Thursday. Originally conceived as a ten-story building with 98 residential units, 56,000 square feet of retail, the building will now contain 90 residential units (a mix of […]

Thanks to Pressure From Community, Lakeview Will Get Real TOD

By John Greenfield | May 7, 2014 | 20 Comments

After Lakeview residents argued that a huge number of parking spaces was inappropriate for a building located only one block from a Red Line stop, the latest design for the Belmont-Clark tower is much less car-oriented. While the original design featured 100 rental units and 116 parking spots, the new one has 90 units but […]

MPC’s TOD Tool Advises Developers About Train Station Bonuses

By Steven Vance | Mar 27, 2014 | 13 Comments

Many developers haven’t yet investigated how last year’s transit oriented development ordinance, passed to encourage development near transit, can make their work easier and possibly more lucrative. Under the TOD ordinance, developers can build bonus density — more floors, taller buildings, smaller units – and fewer parking spaces on sites near Chicago Transit Authority and […]

Belmont-Clark Tower Still Has Too Much Parking for a Walkable City

By John Greenfield | Mar 3, 2014 | 63 Comments

There’s some mildly encouraging news about the mixed-use development proposed for the “Punkin’ Donuts” site at the northwest corner of Belmont and Clark. The latest design calls for fewer car parking spaces and more housing units. DNAinfo reports that the third revision of the plan for the $50 million tower shortens the structure from 11 […]

Lakeview Developer First to Use TOD Ordinance to Reduce Parking

By Steven Vance | Jan 30, 2014 | 33 Comments

New rental housing planned next to the Paulina Brown Line station in West Lakeview at Lincoln Avenue and Roscoe Street is the first known development to take advantage of the transit-oriented development ordinance passed in 2013 that reduces parking minimums for buildings near transit stations. Centrum Partners is proposing a four- to seven-story building abutting […]

Zoning Committee Passes Watered Down TOD Ordinance

By Steven Vance | Sep 10, 2013 | 18 Comments

Last Wednesday, the City Council zoning committee passed Mayor Emanuel’s proposed ordinance allowing more walkable, less car-oriented development near train stations. But before the vote, the legislation was watered down with an amendment that makes it harder to construct buildings with lower volumes of car parking. Under the amendment [PDF], commercial developments that include less […]

How Parking Requirements Get in the Way of New Chicago Businesses

By Steven Vance | Aug 6, 2013 | 32 Comments

A proposal to legalize transit-oriented development would make it easier to build walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, in part by halving the car parking requirement for residences and eliminating it for non-residential uses near train stations. The ordinance is set to go before aldermen at the zoning committee’s next meeting in September. Right now, without the ordinance, […]