Commissioner’s Adjustment for Airbnb in Chicago

[Rahul Gupta]

TRying to figure out what all needs to be done in order to convert a SFR (Non owner occupied) to an Airbnb in Chicago.

After doing a lot of research, we understand that we will need to get the business license and check the zoning before buying a property that can be potentially converted to a Short Term Rental. One thing that we wanted to understand more is the below listed section from the following document:

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/bacp/Small%20Business%20Center/Vacation_Rental_Fact_Sheet-05-31-17.pdf

The part that talks about the Commissioner’s Adjustment, is this adjustment needed for each property that we own and plan to convert to a short term rental, and is it needed even after a house falls under the correct zoning laws and the property is one of the three circumstances listed? We are just trying to understand what kind of restrictions and waivers we will need in order to operate a Short term rental in Chicago.

"Commissioner’s Adjustment A Commissioner’s Adjustment is a waiver that upon approval, allows the operation of a licensed vacation rental or shared housing unit under the below three circumstances. A Commissioner’s Adjustment will not be granted unless the BACP Commissioner determines that such an adjustment would eliminate an extraordinary burden on the applicant in light of unique or unusual circumstances and would not detrimentally impact the health, safety, or general welfare of surrounding property owners of the general public. Application for a Commissioner’s Adjustment may be found at www.cityofchicago.org/bacp. 1. The applicant’s dwelling unit is located in a single family home that is not the applicant’s primary residence; 2. The applicant’s dwelling unit is located in a building containing two to four units, where the dwelling unit is not the applicant’s primary residence; 3. To increase the number of units allowed to be used for short term residential rental activity in a building containing two to four dwelling units.
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We really appreciate you taking the time to give us valuable information.