Zoning Services
Early Wednesday, the phone rang. The number had a check mark by it so I picked up and warmly greeted, "Good morning!"
"Hi, we are going to buy this vacant lot and I want your help with designing a three unit condo building on it."
"Sounds good. What's the address?" I asked.
He told us and we looked it up on the City of Chicago's fabulous zoning site.
"The zoning district is RT-4." I observed.
"Oh, yes," the caller said "and the 4 is for the number of units I can build on the lot."
"Ummm, no, that's actually the zoning district–in this case it's residential– and the number classifies the density of the district. The number of units you can build on a lot come down to a couple of items spelled out in the district's bulk and density regulations."
"Really?" He puzzled.
"Yes, the first place is with the rule 17-17-0302 which defines the lot area per dwelling unit. In RT-4, 1,000 ft2 of lot is required per dwelling unit. What are the dimensions of your lot?"
"25 feet by 100 feet," he replied.
"Ok, so 2500 sf divide by 1000 sf per unit gives you two dwelling units."
"Really?" He sounded let down.
I continued, "the other number to keep in mind is the Floor Area Ratio."
"What's that?" He asked.
"It's a multiplier known by the acronym FAR. RT-4's FAR is 1.2"
"What does that mean for our lot?" He inquired.
"So 1.2 times 2500 feet equals 3000 square feet. So that's maximum square footage allowed. It doesn't count a basement that's more than 50% under the grade."
"So I cannot build the 3 condos I was counting on when I bid for the property." He observed.
"Exactly! Sorry to hear that but no at least you know BEFORE spending $400,000."
"I really appreciate it, William. You saved us from making a big mistake. I am gonna talk this over with my wife and I'll get back to you with another property."
So we have a full suite of advisory services. This one was pretty straightforward but many times an analysis of a property can be complex and we’ll discuss another example soon. #chicagozoning #realestate #realestateadvisory
How do you want to live?
Early Wednesday, the phone rang. The number had a check mark by it so I picked up and warmly greeted, "Good morning!"
"Hi, we are going to buy this vacant lot and I want your help with designing a three unit condo building on it."
"Sounds good. What's the address?" I asked.
He told us and we looked it up on the City of Chicago's fabulous zoning site.
"The zoning district is RT-4." I observed.
"Oh, yes," the caller said "and the 4 is for the number of units I can build on the lot."
"Ummm, no, that's actually the zoning district–in this case it's residential– and the number classifies the density of the district. The number of units you can build on a lot come down to a couple of items spelled out in the district's bulk and density regulations."
"Really?" He puzzled.
"Yes, the first place is with the rule 17-17-0302 which defines the lot area per dwelling unit. In RT-4, 1,000 ft2 of lot is required per dwelling unit. What are the dimensions of your lot?"
"25 feet by 100 feet," he replied.
"Ok, so 2500 sf divide by 1000 sf per unit gives you two dwelling units."
"Really?" He sounded let down.
I continued, "the other number to keep in mind is the Floor Area Ratio."
"What's that?" He asked.
"It's a multiplier known by the acronym FAR. RT-4's FAR is 1.2"
"What does that mean for our lot?" He inquired.
"So 1.2 times 2500 feet equals 3000 square feet. So that's maximum square footage allowed. It doesn't count a basement that's more than 50% under the grade."
"So I cannot build the 3 condos I was counting on when I bid for the property." He observed.
"Exactly! Sorry to hear that but no at least you know BEFORE spending $400,000."
"I really appreciate it, William. You saved us from making a big mistake. I am gonna talk this over with my wife and I'll get back to you with another property."
So we have a full suite of advisory services. This one was pretty straightforward but many times an analysis of a property can be complex and we’ll discuss another example soon. #chicagozoning #realestate #realestateadvisory
How do you want to live?