Logan Square marchers ask City Hall to slow rising rents. Here's what the Council has passed, and what is stuck

Ald. Jessica Fuentes has paused new zoning requests in the 26th Ward while two Armitage Avenue projects are negotiated. Tenant bills from both sides of the rent debate are sitting in the Rules committee.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 31, 2026

About 70 people marched through Logan Square on Tuesday to call for more help keeping housing affordable, Block Club Chicago reported. The march began at a vacant lot at 3265 W. Armitage Ave., where an apartment complex is proposed, and ended at Encuentro Square, an all-affordable building at 3745 W. Cortland St. that opened in 2025.

Why it matters: neighbors told Block Club their rents have gone up 40% to 60% in the past year. Organizers asked for more City and state money for affordable housing and for tenant protections that have been stuck at City Hall. Whether those happen depends on Council votes, and some of the bills involved haven't had a hearing in more than a year.

What marchers and officials said

The march was organized by members of Palenque LSNA, Block Club said, and Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th) was among those taking part. Organizers asked for:

more money for the Here to Stay Community Land Trust, the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund and the City's Northwest Side preservation program;
expanding the pilot that gives tenants the first chance to buy their building when it is sold;
rent control, stronger tenant protections and a just-cause eviction law.

At the Armitage lot, Ald. Jessica Fuentes (26th) said developers of large projects on the street need to negotiate in good faith, according to Block Club. Her office is working with developers on affordability and a possible community benefits agreement for one site, which has environmental problems.

Block Club reported two proposals on Armitage. At 3265 W. Armitage, two-bedroom units could rent for $2,400 to $2,800 and three-bedrooms for $3,000 to $3,500. At 3208-3216 W. Armitage, a project would add 52 market-rate apartments and 17 affordable units.

The zoning pause. Fuentes's office stopped taking new zoning proposals in September while it works with the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute on a study of the ward's housing needs, Block Club reported. The Northwest Side Neighborhood Alliance criticized the pause, saying the city needs more housing.

What our records add

The tenant purchase pilot passed, but not without dissent. SO2024-0011001 created the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase pilot in the 606 district, along the trail that runs through Logan Square, Humboldt Park and neighboring areas. It also changed the demolition surcharge and redrew the 606 district's boundaries. It was sponsored by then-Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, with Fuentes among six co-sponsors, and passed 44 to 3 in September 2024. Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), Ald. William Conway (34th) and Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) voted no.

How each ward voted

43 yea, 3 nay, 1 absent, 1 not voting · Sep 18, 2024 · Passed

Yea Nay Absent Not voting

SO2024-0011001: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

A bill to end that pilot is stuck. In October 2024, Ald. Felix Cardona Jr. (31st) and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) introduced O2024-0013135, which would end the pilot on Dec. 31, 2027. Three committees claimed it, so it went to the Committee on Committees and Rules, where it has had no hearing in two years.

Just cause is stuck too. A just-cause eviction ordinance from Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th), O2025-0017516, has been in the same committee since May 2025, after two committees claimed it. It would limit the reasons a landlord can end a lease. Block Club described the competing tenant and landlord proposals as stalled after a heated debate earlier this year.

What did pass. In April, the Council passed SO2025-0019933, Quezada's ordinance requiring landlords to give more written notice before ending a lease or filing for eviction. Fuentes co-sponsored it. It passed 46 to 4, with Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) and Ald. James Gardiner (45th) voting no.

When a measure is claimed by more than one committee, it goes to Rules, and the Rules chair decides whether it gets a hearing. Across all committees, 465 items have waited more than a year, according to our stuck in committee count.

What's next

Armitage projects: each would need a zoning change. That goes to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards and then the full Council, where members usually follow the local alderperson's lead.
Nov. 4: the Department of Housing comes before the budget committee, according to the hearing schedule.
Tue., Nov. 3: 26th Ward voters also decide an advisory question on limiting new short-term rentals, which we covered Friday.

Sources: Chicago Politics: 26th Ward.