Sam Barth, left, supervising attorney at the Law Center for Better Housing, speaks to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate on March 12, 2026. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Thursday approved a measure to explore launching a city program to proactively inspect rental housing, an appointment to the Low-Income Housing Trust board and a lease renewal for city office space.

The committee approved the appointment of Alisa Rodriguez to the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund Board. Rodriguez is a former managing deputy commissioner at the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and retired from the city in 2022.  

Rodriguez also previously served on the board. Since leaving the city, she’s become director of social services for the Salvation Army in Chicago. 

“I bring more than 35 years of experience, servicing vulnerable and low-income populations,” Rodriguez told the committee. “[At DFSS], I helped the development and implementation of programs that moved individuals and families from crisis to stability with a strong emphasis on permanent housing solutions and supportive services.” 

Rodriguez said her focus has always been “and will continue to be on creating pathways, not obstacles, to stable housing.” If confirmed, she told the committee she is prepared to use her experience and talents to take a “strategic, innovative and flexible” approach to funding challenges. 

The committee also approved an ordinance (O2025-0019991) from Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33) that would start the process of establishing a citywide rental housing unit registry and a city-sponsored system for proactively inspecting rental units on a regular basis.  

“Right now, inspections for rental units are not proactive,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said. “We want to make sure that when families, especially the most vulnerable families, low-income families — we want to make sure that they know that when they rent a unit in the city of Chicago, those units are good. Those units are going to guarantee their safety and the health of their children.” 

Sam Barth, supervising attorney at the Law Center for Better Housing, told the committee proactive inspections are better because once a problem is uncovered, the damage, such as lead exposure or carbon monoxide poisoning, has often already been done. Tenants can also fail to report known issues because they’re afraid of landlord retaliation, and proactive inspections also reduce socioeconomic inequities in building quality, Barth said. 

The ordinance would first establish a working group to study and make recommendations about the creation of the registry and inspection process. The registry would ideally document past complaints and other issues in the unit’s history, and registration fees would bring in new revenue.  

“These are big undertakings, and we need to figure out how to best make them a reality, and sometimes it takes a lot of thinking, a lot of collaboration and a lot of work,” the 33rd Ward alderwoman said. “So, we decided to create a working group in order to be able to manage that undertaking.” 

The working group would include representatives from the mayor’s office, Department of Public Health, Department of Housing, Department of Buildings and Department of Law.    

The group would be required to consult with landlords and property management groups, tenant groups, child health and other public health providers, as well as low-income earners and other marginalized communities, such as people of color and the LGBTQ community, that are more likely to live in substandard rental housing.   

The working group would meet at least three times over a six-month period and hold at least one community meeting each on the North, South and West sides of the city. No less than 30 days after the end of the six-month period, the group would have to publish a report with its findings and recommendations for the implementation of the rental inspection and registry program.   

Ald. Greg Mitchell (7), vice chair of the committee, suggested more internal discussions between alderpeople and relevant city departments should take place before outside groups weigh in, even though he didn’t oppose the program. But the sponsoring alderwoman pushed back at his suggestion.  

“This work has been designed, it has been researched and it has been put together by a coalition of organizations that have a very deep understanding of what this needs to be, and I need them at the table,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said. “That doesn’t exclude alders, and it brings the city together.” 

Mitchell said excluding those groups wasn’t his goal, but he said that the city could benefit from convening with alderpeople to discuss ways to improve support for alderpeople in disputes with local landlords. 

The housing committee also approved a measure (O2026-0023349) designating the property at 1415 N. Dayton St. in the 27th Ward as a Low Affordability Community, which serves to allow the property owner to take advantage of the Cook County Assessor’s Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program, a program that gives property a reduced assessment if the owner maintains at least 20 percent of a new or rehabilitated multifamily building’s units as affordable for 30 years.  

The developers, Honore Properties and Peerless Development, plan to build a 28-story residential tower at the site, which would have 340 units, of which 68 will be affordable. The Chicago Plan Commission will consider the proposed planned development that will include the project next week.  

Alderpeople also approved an ordinance (O2026-0023324) to authorize the city to purchase the property at 1725 N. Harlem Ave. in the 29th Ward for more than $2.88 million in order to reestablish the Chicago Public Library Galewood-Mont Clare branch, which was previously operated at the Sayre Park fieldhouse at 6871 W. Belden Ave. but closed in 2020. The purchase funds came from a grant, and the seller is Michael Brindise. 

The committee also advanced an ordinance (O2026-0023323) to renew a lease between the city and the owner of the strip mall at 5672 S. Archer Ave. in the 23rd Ward, in which the city has rented space since 2007 for satellite City Clerk offices and a satellite senior center. The owner of the building is Mark Sipich, a local real estate investor. The lease is proposed to be renewed until the end of 2035. 

The lease expired at the end of 2025, and the city has continued to use the space on a month-to-month basis. 

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20) voted no, expressing her continued concern about rent costing the same amount of money over decades as it would take to build a city-owned space. 

The committee also approved four sales of city land to JacobDaBuilder, Inc. that were all facilitated through the ChiBlockBuilder platform. The developer plans to build a three-story, three-unit residential building on each of the properties, and the units will be family-sized with three-to-four bedrooms. 

The first sale (O2026-0023308), located at 4627 S. Prairie Ave. in the 3rd Ward, would be for $76,400. The second proposed sale (O2026-0023309) would be for the city-owned land at 4822 S. St. Lawrence Ave. in the 4th Ward, and it would be for $59,546. 

The third sale (O2026-0023306) would be located at 433 E. 42nd Pl. in the 3rd Ward, and the land would be sold for $79,218. Finally, the city would sell (O2026-0023310) land at 4941 S. Forrestville Ave. in the 4th Ward for $59,394. 

The committee also approved the proposed sale (O2026-0023314) of the city land at 1644 W. 35th St. in the 11th Ward to NeighborSpace. The site is currently home to a public skate park, community garden, art gallery and a Little Free Library developed by the Marshfield Courts Collective. NeighborSpace would buy the property for 10 percent of its market value, $3,360, and continue to maintain the site as it is alongside the Marshfield Courts Collective.  

Alderpeople also approved a proposed sale (O2026-0023315) of city land at 633 W. 48th St. in the 15th Ward to Valerie Simutis, who wants to create a community garden on the site with a dog-friendly space as well. Simutis would buy the land for $1,201, which is 10 percent of its market value.  

The housing committee delayed approval of the sale of city land (O2026-0023316) located at 6515 and 6520 S. Aberdeen St. in the 16th Ward to Justine Stephens, who would pay $1,462 in total for the two lots, which is 10 percent of market value. Stephens, in partnership with Unblocked Englewood, proposes to construct two community gardens on the sites. The Department of Planning and Development requested that the item be held.