Short-term rentals limited to 1 unit/property? (Chicago Airbnb)

[Kevin Yun]

Hey BP,

I am considering purchasing a 3 or 4-flat in Chicago, and planning out my rental strategy (STR and/or LTR).

After speaking with an STR (Airbnb/Vrbo) management service today, the owner informed me that only 1 rental unit per building can is allowed. What that means is that if I were to buy a 3/4-unit, only 1 unit could be for Airbnb rentals.

This is strange, because I was recently considering a 3-flat in which the owner was pitching Airbnb'd out rental figures. That means they were either grandfathered in(?) and aren't aware of this limit, or that 3 Airbnbs is illegal within the same property/building?

I'll be speaking with a lawyer later this week, but wanted to see if anyone knew info on this. The best I could find is the Chicago ordinance reference (https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/bacp/ordinances/sharedhousingordinanceversionfinal.pdf), but still not quite sure.