Chicago Zoning Question

[Andrew Fink]

Hello BP! 

Does anyone have experience with zoning? I'm looking at a property that is listed as a 2 flat; however when I went on the chicago zoning website, the zoning class is B3-1 which does not make sense since there is no retail currently. The property class is 2-11 which indicates 2 -6 unit apartment buildings.

I'm looking to use an FHA loan so the zoning will impact how much money I am able to borrow.

Would appreciate any advice or tips or where to confirm this information. Thank you!

[John Warren]

@Andrew Fink the whole zoning question is very complicated. My attorney basically told me there is no way to know zoning without pulling a zoning cert. In a perfect world you would be able to jump online and know everything, but in reality the process is pretty archaic. What Brie was referencing was if you do something that loses you the grandfathered zoning status. With all of these older properties, if they go vacant long enough or if they burn down or are destroyed then you lose your grandfathered zoning and would have to conform the modern zoning status. Just doing a renovation or pulling a permit doesn't  necessarily trigger it though.