Building residential units above commercial space (in Chicago)

[Josh Jennings]

I own a commercial building, one story, typical Chicago lot (60639), and I pay the crazy taxes (17K year) for it.  I'm new to this RE world, but in doing research, I noticed many of the buildings like mine, with residents above, were paying 6-8k in taxes, a big difference!  In any event, hoping to find someone that has some experience with this.  I don't know how strict the codes or building allowances are in the City of Chicago.  I was hoping to do this soon.  I also have a one-story mix-use building (60623), that I would love to build above!  Also interested in estimating costs into the additions.  Based on the Prop Tax savings alone, it's a no-brainer!

[Bob Solak]

Josh, first thing to do is to check out the zoning map for your lot.  Chicago zoning, especially along the main retail corridors can have ridiculously complex zoning maps, with zoning designations sometimes changing several times on the same block.  

https://gisapps.chicago.gov/Zo...

Once you find what zone you are in, you can take a look and see if residential above commercial is even allowed.  If it isn't you'd need to get a variance or a rezoning, in which case buckle up for a long ride and start to figure out what butts to kiss and what politicians to grease.