The Northern Illinois Transit Authority is allowed to buy and develop land for reasons unrelated to transit, a power that is fairly unique among transit authorities.
Lawmakers have given the Northern Illinois Transit Authority "unprecedented power” to develop land near transit, David Struett writes for the Chicago Sun Times. While other transit agencies have long been able to develop transit-owned land, NITA is allowed to go further and buy and develop land for reasons unrelated to transit, a power that is fairly unique to the Chicago authority.
The Chicago Sun Times reports:
“There are some provisions that give NITA substantial power for undertaking transit-oriented development projects itself that virtually no other transit agency across the country has,” [said Yonah Freemark, an expert on the method at the Urban Institute, a DC-based think tank] “This could be a potentially massive change.”
NITA is also allowed to take on debt, offer developers incentives and undertake public-private partnerships. While NITA officials say they intend to use their sweeping powers, the agency still has to create a development office, meaning any development could be years away.
Read the full story: The new transit authority has unprecedented power to develop land. How could this change your neighborhood?
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