Everything You Need to Know About Building an ADU in Chicago

By easing zoning restrictions, cities such as Portland, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Seattle have seen growing interest in accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or coach houses or backyard houses, as they’re often called.

Earlier this year, Chicago followed suit with a pilot program that aims to add density to neighborhoods while increasing access to affordable housing and providing more opportunities for multigenerational families to remain together. But out of the 342 intake applications for ADUs filed with the city’s Department of Housing thus far, only 158 have been deemed eligible for a building permit and just six permits have been granted.

So what’s the hold up?

"My suspicion for why projects are getting pushed out further is that things are just more expensive now—construction costs and materials," says Katherine Darnstadt, founding principal at the Chicago architecture and urban design firm Latent Design. "So are these projects viable right now? Or do they need to wait a year and see if prices regulate? Or do they have to get redesigned or scrapped altogether?"

Lack of public awareness could be another stumbling block.

"A lot of property owners do not know that this is possible," says Steve Vance, founder and CEO of the real estate information service Chicago Cityscape. "There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of eligible properties in the five ADU pilot areas. And a lot of those are owned by owner occupants who are not paying attention necessarily to zoning matters that affect their properties." According to Cityscape’s data, there are currently 92,322 qualified lots.