Housing
Council Greenlights 81 Missing Middle Homes
City Council approved ordinances today permitting the sale of city-owned lots for 27 new two-flats, three-flats, and four-flats in Morgan Park, South Chicago, and West Chatham.
Five minority-led development teams will build 81 market-rate units totaling $31 million in investment:
- Famor LLC (Morgan Park): $8.9M for six four-flats
- Vazquez Housing Development (Morgan Park): $6.7M for five three-flats
- Superior Source Capital (Morgan Park): $6.8M for six three-flats
- NHS Redevelopment Corp. & Milhouse Development (South Chicago): $4.8M for six two-flats
- Simeon Manor 1 (West Chatham): $3.8M for four three-flats
The Missing Middle program sells city lots for $1 and provides up to $150,000 per unit from the Johnson administration's $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development bond. Each building must be sold to at least one owner-occupant.
This follows January's approval of 40 buildings valued at $36 million in North Lawndale, and a recent round of selections for East and West Garfield Park and McKinley Park.
ADU Countdown: 48 Days
Chicago's citywide ADU ordinance takes effect April 1. Permit applications open the same day.
Bikes & Transit
Parking Ordinance Heads to Full Council
The citizen parking enforcement ordinance that cleared committee Monday will come before the full City Council on February 18.
Quick recap: The measure creates a Street Operations Task Force focused on bus lane, bike lane, and crosswalk violations outside the existing Smart Streets camera zone. By year's end, 311 complaints could be routed directly to nearby enforcement aides for immediate ticketing. The pilot applies only to commercial vehicles and runs through 2028.
Business groups remain wary about a potential wave of citizen-triggered tickets, arguing that limited loading zones leave drivers few legal options. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) maintains the program will "lead to greater safety for all Chicagoans."
Wildlife
Rat Contraceptive Results Coming This Spring
The Lincoln Park rat contraceptive pilot launched last year is awaiting its first real test: what happens when rats emerge in warmer weather.
Scientists from Lincoln Park Zoo are comparing population counts between blocks with contraceptive pellets and control blocks without. The $40,000 privately funded initiative—a partnership between Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd), the Chicago Bird Alliance, and city sanitation officials—aims to curb rat populations without the rodenticides that have killed local great horned owls.
The City Council's Environment Committee approved a supportive resolution earlier this month.
Food
Bloom's Final Nine Days
Bloom Plant Based Kitchen in Wicker Park closes permanently after February 21. Chef Rodolfo Cuadros told VegNews the team plans to return with a new vegan concept.
Black Restaurant Week continues through February 22, featuring 39 restaurants and food businesses across Chicagoland. This year marks 100 years since Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week in Chicago in 1926.
Next City Council meeting: February 18.