Pritzker’s honor: Illinois housing reform fight intensifies

The fight over Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s sweeping housing reform agenda is intensifying as both sides harden their positions.

Supporters and detractors by the thousands delivered their opening arguments Thursday at the first major hearing on Pritzker’s six-bill package.

Pritzker’s BUILD plan seeks to lower costs by making construction easier and faster statewide. It would override local zoning rules by legalizing duplexes, triplexes, four-flats and accessory dwelling units.

It would also eliminate single-family zoning on lots larger than 2,500 square feet. A tiered density system would allow up to eight units on lots exceeding 7,500 square feet.

The plan puts Gov. Pritzker, a possible 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful, in step with a national push for housing affordability. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, also mentioned in 2028 presidential discussions, is fighting for similar reform in her state. Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed housing reform into law last month, expanding by-right housing approvals and limiting some local zoning authority.

Illinois, like many states, faces a housing affordability problem – not enough homes are being built to keep prices in check. Restrictive zoning and delayed approvals are key reasons why. The state faces a shortage of roughly 270,000 housing units, according to government estimates. That gap has pushed rents and home prices well above what many residents can afford.

At the hearing, Emily Bloom-Carlin, housing and community development director at the Metropolitan Planning Council, cited the toll downzoning took on Chicago. A joint study with the Urban Institute examined five decades of Chicago zoning and found that neighborhoods banning apartments and multi-unit housing saw rising costs, falling affordability and increased racial segregation.

“The kind of restrictive zoning that those neighborhoods were down-zoned into is already the baseline in most Illinois neighborhoods,” Bloom-Carlin said.

Pritzker’s housing plan draws supporters, skeptics

In Chicago, city lawmakers have instituted programs to boost missing-middle housing and have ended parking mandates, though those changes are just now taking effect. Bloom-Carlin pointed to housing reforms in Austin that increased supply and improved affordability, a case Michigan reform proponents have also cited in their push.

Chicago leaders have not taken a hard position for or against Pritzker’s plan. Jung Yoon, chief of policy in the Chicago mayor’s office, said the city “has a nuanced position” and supports expanding housing production statewide. But Yoon added that several provisions raise concerns about home rule authority, municipal operations and the city’s ability to tailor solutions to local needs.

Chicago’s stance reflects a softer version of broader municipal opposition – that a one-size-fits-all mandate will not work. Local governments across the state, as elsewhere in the country, want to retain control.

More than a dozen municipalities sent representatives to oppose the bills Thursday. Many called for a voluntary framework that lets communities opt into density reforms rather than face a mandate.

“We’re not opposed to many of these approaches,” said John Noak, mayor of Romeoville, about 30 miles from downtown Chicago. “We just believe it is the right and the duty of individual communities to adapt them where they make sense and where they actually work.”