Property Finder has been updated to calculate the number of dwelling units allowed at every parcel in Chicago that's zoned to allow residential. After opening Property Finder within any Chicago-based Place Snapshot – try the LaSalle Street Reimagined area, for example.
Step 1: Select the "Show zoning & housing units" button in the Property Finder filters.
Step 2: Review the calculated number in the "Units allowed" column that appears. Click on the column title to sort the table by that column.
Our 90-second video demonstrates how to quickly see the number of homes allowed at every parcel in Chicago.
We've long included public and non-public schools in Chicago in our Amenities & Social Infrastructure map. Today we're launching our statewide map of schools while also expanding the categories of schools included.
Our new data source is the Illinois State Board of Education's directory of registered schools. These are schools that provide a compulsory elementary or secondary education in one or more grade levels. One caveat is that not all schools that provide this education are required to register.
That's 5,626 schools – including public, non-public (parochial and other faith-based), special education (both public and non-public), charter, and other schools (like IMSA).
How Cityscape uses schools
In Chicago, this helps with our Cannabis Compliance feature, as local zoning rules require a distance of 500 feet between schools and cannabis businesses. Other jurisdictions may have similar rules.
Everywhere in Illinois this helps property developers, LIHTC applicants, and real estate brokers locate the nearest schools in their Address Snapshot lookups.
Chicago Cityscape's venerable Property Finder tool now works for citywide searches. Elevate a search to include properties beyond the smaller areas that previously limited our members – to the entire 234 square miles of Chicago.
There are over 900,000 properties across Chicago. The same Property Finder filters you're used to at the community area, ward, ZIP code, or Personal Place level, work citywide.
Create simple or complex groups of filters to locate the exact kinds of properties you want to prospect. For example, we found 2,275 parking lots that are (a) larger than 7,000 s.f., (b) in a TOD area and zoning district that allows zero car parking spaces for residential use, and (c) has a supermarket within one mile.
Oh - that "supermarket within one mile" is another new feature 😎
This feature is in beta and please be patient. It takes computers a lot of work to apply your filters to over 900,000 properties. Send us your feedback!
Finding property citywide starts with these two steps
With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, new and existing national tax credits will encourage the adoption of more energy efficient building systems and constructing renewable energy facilities. The standard investment tax credit for a new qualifying solar or wind energy is six percent while the bonus tax credit for investing in low-income communities is worth 10 additional percentage points.
There is even an option, in the same areas, to gain an additional 10 points if constructing the facility on a qualifying rental residential building or if it will benefit low-income households.
Chicago Cityscape has added this geographically-based "IRA solar & wind bonus credit" to Incentives Checker. Search for it within Incentives Checker using the keywords IRA, solar, wind, or energy.
Look up an address in Illinois to see if it might qualify for the energy credit boost.
Chicago Cityscape is launching the beta version of "Super Parcel" so our users can assess the zoning capacity and housing allowance would be for an assemblage of adjacent parcels, without having to look up multiple addresses.
The first Super Parcel is a collection of nine parcels that make up the City of Chicago's Lake/Kedzie RFQ, next to the Kedzie Green Line station.
Super Parcels speed up your analysis of multi-parcel properties
With this Super Parcel, interested applicants can use our Address Snapshot as if all nine parcels were a single zoning lot – even if they're across the street from each other. The automated zoning assessment will calculate how many dwelling units are allowed, using the dominant zoning district's standards.
For example, the Lake/Kedzie RFQ Super Parcel shows that, given the current C1-3 zoning, 139 dwelling units are allowed. If there is more than one zoning district that overlaps, the less dominant ones will be listed but will not be used as part of the calculation.
Another benefit is finding out who the alderpersons are – this is especially useful for the Lake/Kedzie RFQ Super Parcel because some of the lots are in the 27th Ward and some are in the 28th Ward (see image below)
How to use a Super Parcel
Super Parcel is still in beta and requires a little manual work to set it up. The first thing you'll need is a list of PINs (Super Parcel works with up to 10 PINs).
You can contact us, share the list of PINs, and we'll create a Super Parcel for you.
Or, here's how to do it yourself:
1. In a text document (like the Notes app), copy and paste this URL: "http://chicagocityscape.com/address.php?pins="
2. After the "=" (equals sign), list your PINs (with or without dashes) separated by an underscore. Here's what the URL for the Lake/Kedzie RFQ Super Parcel looks like: "https://chicagocityscape.com/address.php?pins=16114130270000_16114130570000_16114130560000_16114120600000_16114120320000_16114120330000_16123120080000_16123120090000_16123120100000" (access the Super Parcel now)
The new TOD ordinance in 2022 — summarized City Council adopted a new TOD ordinance, called “Connected Communities” on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. This is also the third and largest revision of the TOD density bonus and parking reduction rules originally adopted in 2013.
