Chicago To Get More New Apartments This Year Than In 2015 & 2016 Combined

By Mae Rice in News on Feb 9, 2017 6:24PM



Photo via Tony Webster on Flickr

Updated at 3:30 p.m. after interview with Luxury Living Chicago Realty's owner: If you think Chicago rent is Too Damn High, we have potentially good news—rents could fall soon, because the number of rental units on the market is going to skyrocket this year. Due to a controversial construction boom, the city will get 33 new buildings and roughly 6,600 new apartments in 2017, according to Luxury Living Chicago Realty.

Those figures trace back to a mix of new developments downtown, like this South Loop dorm for grownups, and TODs clustering along the Red and Blue Lines. Centrum Bucktown, for instance, a 94-unit building at 1743 N. Leavitt, is slated to open for leasing this spring, Luxury Living Chicago Realty's owner Aaron Galvin told Chicagoist. It's situated halfway between the Western and Damen Blue Line stops, and directly across from the 606.

If Luxury Living's estimates are borne out, Chicago will get more new apartments this year than in 2015 and 2016 combined, Curbed reports. Galvin thinks the flood of new rentals is driven by Chicago's burgeoning status as a tech hub; tech employees are likely to rent in these buildings, especially luxury ones like Centrum.

Though some argue that this type of new development drives gentrification, others argue that restricting development can drive rents up and cause displacement, too—a conversation we explored in depth in our feature on gentrification in Pilsen.

[H/T Curbed]