Increased Demolition Fee Proposed for Developers Near Chicago's 606

"Aldermen Proco 'Joe' Moreno, 1st, and Roberto Maldonado, 26th, are drafting an ordinance that would increase the demolition fee for residential properties and charge a deconversion fee when multiple-unit buildings are turned into single-family homes within a still-unspecified area," Corilyn Shropshire writes for the Chicago Tribune. Houses along the 606 trail have seen their values increase since the bike path's completion.

"It's twofold — to slow down the pace of gentrification and to create a fund for those existing homes to be improved for home and building owners and their tenants," Maldonado told Shropshire. Some are worried that the new value of land toward the western end of the trail will push out renters. Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies, says "[m]ultifamily, small, multiunit affordable housing buildings aren't built anymore."