Chicago violations pages show just a bit more context

A couple weeks ago we announced the revamping of the building code violations details pages on Chicago Cityscape. Now we've added even more context by linking each violation to any related administrative hearings.

In Chicago, when building inspectors cite certain code violations, they also assign an "administrative hearing" to follow up and enforce the repair and curing of the violations. The Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings is a quasi-judicial system that uses contracted "administrative law judges" to ensure that violations are resolved. 


The hearing dates are set months in the future, giving property owners time to cure, or begin to cure, violations before a fine is assessed. This is not "buildings court", which is part of the Circuit Court of Cook County and handles emergency demolitions and lawsuits, amongst other issues.

In addition to showing business licenses and property descriptions, any administrative hearings related to this violation that are identified will also be shown on the violation details page (see a sample).

New Chicago building code violations features

Based on conversations we had with Chicago Cityscape members over the past two weeks, we've enhanced our Chicago building code violations filters and presentation. 

  1. Our labeling process is more transparent
  2. New filters, as requested by members
  3. Context helps you understand what building was cited

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1. More transparency 

For the longest time, Chicago building code violations on the website have had "Top 50" and "Serious" labels – or no label – to help searchers sift through the thousands of violations cited each week. But there was little transparency. 

It's now clearly described on the Building Violations Browser that the "Top 50" violations are recalculated daily, based on the most commonly cited violations in the last 365 days. Additionally, the top 5 violation codes are listed and described. 

Secondly, the "Serious" label wasn't clear as to what constituted a serious violation. These labels have always been based on our assessment. For the first time, we've reviewed what was considered serious: The list has been reduced to 14 violation codes, which are now all listed and described. 

Additionally, the label has changed from "Serious" to "Potentially serious" since we're unable to know and assess any individual circumstance. 

Showing these violation codes has the added benefit of making it easier for searchers to filter for violations by code.

2. New filters

A member requested this: With one click, show only those building violations that were cited at condos and small apartment buildings within the past 12 months. 

Contact us if you have an idea for a new filter.

3. More context

Now when you look at the details of a building violation, Chicago Cityscape looks for active business licenses there, as well as the property classification, to give you information about the kind of building that is there. Look at this one, for example.


New in Proposed Projects: 30 projects + filters

We’ve heard from some of our newest members that they saw Chicago Cityscape as a way to find new business and new clients and that’s why they requested a demo. One of the tools we show them is Proposed Projects. This map and spreadsheet shows the location and description of dozens of newly proposed projects each month.

Our succinct summaries make it easy for members to skim the list to find the ideal proposed projects that they can work for. Each project has additional details, including the full scope of the project, the name of the owner, and sometimes the name of the architect. Some projects also have emails and phone numbers for those contacts. 

In the last week we've added about 30 new proposed projects. And next month we'll add a bunch more. Some of these projects include a 203-room hotel, a new 6-story residential building, and a new distribution center.

We've also added filters, for the first time. Click on a project category to instantly see what's been proposed in your target industry, or click on a project size to weed out projects that you wouldn't want to bid on.



Find properties owned by cities and non-profits

We love responding to member requests. 

One can now filter Cook County properties by their tax exemption status. All properties owned by governments, non-profit organizations, universities, and places of worship are exempt from paying property taxes.

Chicago Cityscape has many ways to find properties:

Zoning Dashboard is now Zoning Assessment

Zoning Dashboard has been a core feature for Address Snapshot reports of Chicago address, properties, and buildings, and it's time to change the name.

Zoning Dashboard has added more and more features over the years that it's become more like a "Zoning Assessment", wherein our system can automatically create limited zoning reports. 

What's new with Zoning Assessment?

1. All uses are shown

screenshot showing permitted uses in a zoning district
The Zoning Dashboard used to only show uses (businesses and building types) that were permitted or required a special use. Now, Zoning Assessment shows all uses, including the ones that aren't permitted except after a zoning map change (rezoning).

2. Parking requirements

Zoning Assessment can now describe parking requirements for residential uses at a given location. Parking requirements for non-residential uses require more inputs (like project scope, number of employees, size of the business or building) which currently can only be done in a personalized Zoning Assessment.

screenshot showing parking requirements

3. The latest map

This is a routine update, but our Chicago zoning map is current for all the rezonings adopted at the April and May 2020 City Council meetings.  

  • Address Snapshot reports now show the most recent zoning districts, in addition to being able to show past zoning at that location
  • Site Locator, our tool to find where in Chicago certain businesses or building types are allowed, has the latest map

4. Nothing - go look up an address

By popular demand: Parcel dimensions

Now whenever you look up an Address Snapshot Property report (searching for or selecting a property's PIN), you'll see this map that shows the parcel's outlines and dimensions. 

Each side is measured, and the perimeter distance is shown. 

This information does not replace the need for a survey as it relies on an imperfect map of Cook County parcels – it is intended to give a property analyst an additional data point in their due diligence.

TOD status redesigned

We've redesigned the TOD status section of Address Snapshot so readers can more quickly see the rules and benefits of Chicago's "Transit-Served Location" ordinance. 

The green checkmark is still there to indicate if a location is eligible for the TOD benefits, but now we've highlighted just how far a location is from the transit service that makes the site eligible. 

Plus, we're highlighting and summarizing the benefits into a few categories: 

  • More units allowed
  • Taller building allowed
  • Less parking required

The TOD status section is a feature exclusive to those who've purchased an Address Snapshot report and our Cityscape Pro and Cityscape Enterprise members. 



Incentives Checker updated with new data

We updated the Incentives Checker to clarify what might be available at any given Address Snapshot, added an incentive (bringing the total we can check up to 25), and updated our database to add current locations. 

  • New incentive: HUBZones. These are areas called "historically underutilized business zones" where the federal government has a minimum commitment of 3% of contract spending. 
  • Now when you look up an Address Snapshot, we'll be more accurate about the number of financial & development incentives we can check for that location. No more checking for incentives we know are not available in that area. 
  • The areas where New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) can be deployed has been updated for 2020. These areas are called Qualified Census Tracts and we have this information for the entire United States.
  • Additionally, regarding LIHTC, the areas of "Difficult Development Areas", where applications for LIHTC can be scored higher, was updated for 2020.

Look up what incentives might be available at any address or parcel, based on its geography, using Address Snapshot.

Property sales data updated through 2020 Q1

We've updated our "PTAX" dataset to show three more months of property transactions. This includes sales and transfers that are subject to the Real Estate Transfer Tax. With this addition, Chicago Cityscape now has 5.25 years of property transactions.

Look up any Address Snapshot in Cook County and we'll show you nearby transactions.

Look up any Place Snapshot in Cook County and we'll show you (nearly) all of the transactions that took place within that area.

Map of property transactions in East Pilsen

Stats

These statistics consider only those transactions with a full consideration of greater than $1.

According to our analysis of the new data, there were 17,759 transactions recorded in Cook County in the first quarter of 2020. Of these, 49.8 percent were in Chicago. This lines up with the average number of Cook County transactions in Chicago, at 51.2 percent. 

Looking at rolling 4 quarter periods, there was an increase of 0.31 percent in transactions in Chicago in 2019 Q2 through 2020 Q1 over transactions in 2019 Q1 through 2019 Q4. 

chart showing property transactions subject to RETT in Illinois, Cook County, and Chicago


Amenities database updated, adds 400 features

We've updated our amenities database. It includes over 400 additional features, most of which were parks that were inadvertently left out of the previous update in February.

Look up an Address Snapshot and view the "Amenities & social infrastructure" to see and count the number of nearby parks, grocery stores, medical offices, community centers, libraries, and bars & restaurants.

This feature is free for all Cityscape users. Cityscape Pro members can download the data for their own use. An example map is shown below.

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