(Above) Wentworth Avenue in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood, looking north toward Cermak Road. (Click on image to view larger version.)

By expanding the number of zoning districts in Chicago that are designated as ‘downtown,’ Mayor Emanuel has a plan to bring economic development to the city’s poorer neighborhoods – and get real estate developers to pay for it.

February 25, 2016 – Downtown Chicago would get bigger under a proposal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to expand zoning districts designated as “downtown.”

Developers would be allowed to build bigger projects in the new areas in exchange for investing in the economic growth of the city’s less developed neighborhoods. The mayor says it would revamp the current system by eliminating outdated bonuses, closing loopholes, and establishing a new funding source for neighborhoods.

“We are establishing a new norm in Chicago where our most thriving areas will help our most struggling neighborhoods and communities,” says Emanuel (left).

For zoning purposes, downtown would expand north of Chicago Avenue to Division Street from Lake Shore Drive west to the Chicago River, west of the Loop, and into Chinatown to the south.

Millions of dollars in new construction would be generated, says Emanuel, along with improvements in neighborhoods such as Auburn Gresham and Greater Englewood south of the Loop and Garfield Park west of the Loop.

Developers would pay into a fund for use by projects like reviving a stretch of retail businesses or bringing a grocery store to a food desert. Residents and other stakeholders would be asked to submit proposals, which would have to be approved by the City Council.

The program is similar to Chicago’s adopt-a-landmark deal that gives zoning bonuses to developers if they help a landmarked building pay for improvements.

The mayor’s proposal will be introduced at a City Council meeting this spring.