Committee on Housing and Real Estate meeting, May 13, 2026
- When: Wed, May 13, 2026, 12:30 PM (Chicago time)
- Where: 201A, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: Committee on Housing and Real Estate
- Video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1191989016
- Transcript: full text (25,592 words, automatic captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Housing and Real Estate, chaired by Alderperson Byron Sigcho-López, heard 14 public commenters on homelessness, accessible housing, the heat ordinance and a proposed affordable housing listing portal, and approved its April Rule 45 report. The committee recommended passage of an ordinance shifting the annual homelessness report to the Mayor's Office of Homelessness and framing it around the city's five-year blueprint, after members questioned shelter conditions, encampment response, youth homelessness and funding. It also passed Alderperson Angela Clay substitute Flexible Heat Ordinance adjusting the dates for minimum indoor temperature requirements, and Alderperson Maria E. Hadden substitute ordinance creating a centralized affordable housing listing pilot and a two-year working group. The committee then approved seven city land sales, including 14 lots for Ubuntu Village homes in the 4th Ward, two lots for three-flats on South St. Lawrence, a car wash expansion, two urban agriculture sites, and three community lots in Englewood.
Topics: Homelessness annual report, Flexible heat ordinance, Affordable housing listing portal, City land sales, Green Social Housing, Shelters and encampments, Urban agriculture
Agenda items discussed
- 58:25 Approval of the April 8, 2026 Rule 45 report: passed
- 58:51 Amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-4 adding Section 2-4-130 on the annual report on homelessness and affordable housing: passed
- 1:33:51 Substitute ordinance modifying dates for minimum temperature requirements in dwelling units and work spaces (Flexible Heat Ordinance): passed
- 1:40:43 Substitute ordinance adding Chapter 5-30, Centralized Listing Portal Working Group Ordinance: passed
- 2:10:26 Sale of 14 city-owned lots on South Langley Avenue and East 44th Street for Ubuntu Village under City Lots for Working Families: passed
- 2:22:01 Sale of city-owned property at 4225 South St. Lawrence Avenue under ChiBlockBuilder: passed
- 2:25:12 Sale of city-owned property at 4231 South St. Lawrence Avenue under ChiBlockBuilder: passed
- 2:27:02 Sale of city-owned property at 1147 South Independence Boulevard for a car wash expansion: passed
- 2:29:12 Sale of city-owned property at 6800 and 6802 South Hermitage Avenue to Wood Street Collective for urban agriculture: passed
- 2:36:58 Sale of city-owned property at 1150 and 1152 North Mayfield Avenue to Sewed Up Farms: passed
- 2:45:21 Sale of city-owned lots on South Aberdeen Street and West 54th Street in the 16th Ward: passed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Byron Sigcho-López (chair): After public comment, said housing is a human right, asked that no one be dehumanized, and noted written comments including requests for an eviction moratorium to be discussed with state and county partners. (56:47); Asked the Ubuntu Village developer to clarify how many units would be built per lot. (2:21:17)
- Daniel La Spata (alderperson): Supported the homelessness report ordinance but noted the city's five-year housing plan expired in 2023 and requested an update on the next plan. (1:03:56); Said the listing portal will help renters, ward staff and landlords, and called a public commenter's claim that advocates' words fall on deaf ears false. (2:07:50); Asked Wood Street Collective whether its orchard would use an indoor greenhouse to grow peaches. (2:30:57)
- Jeanette B. Taylor (alderperson): Asked how the report will connect with CHA and HUD on vacancies, address unclean shelters with bedbugs, and link residents to employment. (1:06:05); Asked whether the city has discussed owning its own housing to move people out of shelters. (1:09:35); Said CLIF participation has dropped in many wards and asked how the city will raise revenue and coordinate with the state and county. (1:11:23)
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (alderperson): Described visiting the Margate Park encampment and said residents want services, healthcare and safe housing in their neighborhood rather than shelter. (1:17:33); As chief sponsor of the Green Social Housing ordinance, said it is not moving fast enough and the city must accelerate. (1:19:19)
- Gilbert Villegas (alderperson): Asked about progress on the Green Social Housing component allowing rehab of vacant buildings and requested a hearing on the program. (1:23:25); As co-sponsor of the listing portal ordinance, said making affordable housing easier to find is right, citing his CHA upbringing and veterans with VASH vouchers, and hoped the work takes less than two years. (1:46:57)
- Emma Mitts (alderperson): Asked where people should call for affordable housing under the consolidated effort and whether it goes through 311. (1:26:13); Asked how youth homelessness will be addressed and whether additional funding is attached to the plan. (1:28:04)
- Angela Clay (alderperson): Presented the Flexible Heat Ordinance, which widens the window for minimum heat requirements by a month in spring and two weeks in fall to help older two-pipe buildings as the climate changes. (1:35:24); Thanked Hadden for the listing portal, saying a single reliable source of affordable housing data would help residents, and asked to join the working group. (2:06:04); Asked the Ubuntu Village developer who will do construction and trades and requested the list through the chair. (2:19:59)
- Maria E. Hadden (alderperson): Commended Clay's heat ordinance, saying flexibility for two-pipe systems will save lives and noting three seniors died in her ward in a May heat wave. (1:37:47); Said residents struggle to find affordable housing and navigate multiple wait lists, and that experiences vary by ward. (1:42:17); Said the ordinance uses IHDA's existing portal with 3,700 listed units at no cost and creates a working group to solve process issues over two years. (1:44:44)
- Walter R. Burnett (alderperson): Supported the listing portal, noting many ARO units in his ward that residents do not know how to access. (2:01:01); Asked how the working group will engage private developers and city departments to simplify qualifying tenants. (2:02:49); Asked that problems requiring ordinance changes be reported to the council early rather than at the end of the two years. (2:03:53)
- Monique L. Scott (alderperson): Said the car wash opened a month ago and needs the extra space, which also fills vacant lots. (2:28:45)
- David H. Moore (alderperson): Thanked the church representative for his patience and called the proposed use of the lots fantastic. (3:06:01)
Exchanges between members
- 1:05:23 The chair called La Spata's comment on the expired five-year housing plan fair and committed to getting an answer.
- 1:23:28 Villegas followed up on the Green Social Housing program that Manaa-Hoppenworth raised.
- 1:25:53 The chair told Villegas the committee would report back on Green Social Housing.
- 1:37:50 Hadden commended Clay on her first legislative effort.
- 1:40:11 The chair congratulated Clay on the passage of her ordinance.
- 1:42:41 Hadden noted that Taylor has long raised the difficulty of finding affordable housing.
- 1:46:47 Hadden yielded to co-sponsor Villegas to speak on the ordinance.
- 1:46:57 Villegas thanked Hadden for leading on the listing portal ordinance.
- 2:01:01 Burnett thanked Hadden and her team for the ordinance.
- 2:04:45 Burnett echoed Villegas's point about not waiting two years to fix structural problems.
- 2:04:58 Hadden responded to Burnett that the goal is real-time data and invited him to help with the working group.
- 2:06:04 Clay thanked Hadden for putting the listing portal ordinance together.
- 2:07:53 La Spata thanked the sponsor for the work that went into the ordinance.
- 2:28:27 The chair asked Scott whether she had anything to add on the land sale in her ward.
- 2:36:03 Hadden responded to La Spata's peach question by describing a community apple orchard in her ward.