Dive Brief:
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Multifamily developers in Chicago will be allowed to build parking spots for bikes instead of parking lots for cars if their buildings are close to transit stations, according to a proposal the City Council will hear on Wednesday.
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Since 2013, the city has allowed developers to substitute bike parking for half of the normal allotment of parking spaces for cars, which is one per unit, if they are within 600 feet of a transit station. The new proposal, backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, would increase the minimum distance to 1,360 feet. Buildings near high concentrations of stores will have a new minimum distance of 2,640 feet — up from 1,200.
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The plan is part of the city’s larger effort to encourage residential and commercial development near commuter rail stations.
Dive Insight:
Reduced parking requirements not only save builders money on parking lots, but they free up space for additional apartment or condominium units, which could make the building more profitable.
The city’s nonprofit Metropolitan Planning Council has estimated that incentives to build closer to public transportation could add more than $400 million to the local economy and boost annual tax revenues by $100 million a year.
A spokeswoman for the nonprofit told the Chicago Tribune, "We want to use the assets the city has to attract more people and counter population loss that we have experienced over the past decade."