For the past three weeks, the NBOA team has been working with the Chicago Tribune’s commercial real estate reporter on a story regarding the new Property Tax Incentive Program.
You can read the full story here (may require a subscription), but here are some highlights:
The new incentive is already benefiting tenants, [according to Andrew Levin of Bass Management.] Even with rents increasing dramatically across many North Side neighborhoods, Bass just agreed to renew a lease in one of the Albany Park buildings and cap the tenant’s monthly increase for her two-bedroom apartment at $8.00. Without the program, the increases would probably be $75 or $100, and that might force some families to seek cheaper lodgings in neighborhoods further west.
“All these kids go to the local school, the parents are on the local school council, so this is a nice opportunity for them to stay in the neighborhood,” Levin said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s also a way for me to stay in business as well, and who better to own these properties than a local guy who knows all their stories?”
and
“We made a decision as an organization that it’s better to preserve low-income housing where there is a threat of displacement, instead of going into areas already saturated with low-income housing,” [Rafael Leon, Executive Director of Chicago Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.] said. “Our residents are secretaries, pharmacy workers, people with limited resources who live paycheck-to-paycheck, and our competition are market-rate developers who would say, ‘these areas are changing, so we’re going to capitalize on that and take a $1,000 a month apartment and increase prices to $1,400 after making minor improvements.’ This is what we’re trying to stop.”