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Limiting Chicago's Downtown Condo Conversion

Posted by: Nate Berg

25 October 2006 - 5:00am

A record-setting amount of apartments in Chicago were converted into condominiums in 2005, and Mayor Richard Daley has formed a task force to limit the trend which is rapidly diminishing affordable housing in the city.

"Conversions have become a hot political issue in other cities, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where politicians and housing advocates have proposed moratoriums on such developments. It's not clear whether the task force would go that far."

A similar conversion boom in the '70s prompted a 40-day moratorium on condo conversions.

"More than a quarter of a century later, with Mayor Daley approaching a re-election campaign, affordable housing is a political issue again. The sustained real estate boom of the previous 10 years has pushed purchase prices — including those for converted apartments — beyond the reach of many in the middle-to-low income brackets."

Full Story: Daley seeks to slow condo conversions
Source: Crain's Chicago Business, October 24, 2006
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The areas where we have severe blight and indications of more blight to come are basically the same as they ever were. How in the world are we ever going to move our community development selves into an alternative future that thinks differently about the challenges we face in our cities and low-income suburban and rural communities?
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