City Council Approves 2020 Highland Park Affordable Housing Plan

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Residential developments approved in recent years have added more than two dozen new affordable units in Highland Park, with potential future developments at the former Solo Cup Company site and U.S. Navy property at the south end of Fort Sheridan could add dozens more affordable units, according to the city's 2020 affordable housing plan.

Since 2004, the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act has required all municipalities where affordable housing makes up under 10 percent of housing to submit plans to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, or IHDA. The non-binding plans must identify potential locations, incentives and goals to increase local affordable housing stock.

In December 2018, city staff received notification from IDHA that the city had fallen short of the threshold to be exempt from the act's requirement by just 80 units — equivalent to 0.7 percent short of the goal. According to Census data, there are 11,361 units in the city and just 1,056 of them were considered affordable in the IHDA's report.

Earlier: North Shore Falls Short Of State Affordable Housing Requirements

In 2019, the city amended its inclusionary housing ordinance to allow more flexibility for developers to meet requirements for affordable units, the housing plan notes. The changes require that rental units be affordable in perpetuity and allows a mix of affordable units and payments in lieu of units. The changes will result in more funding going to the city's Housing Trust Fund to manage and add more affordable housing, according to the plan.

Incentives for more affordable housing development described in the plan include waivers for development-related fees, allowing by-right density bonuses for each affordable units and allowing developers that provide more than 20 percent affordable units to apply for grants from the city's affordable housing fund.