20 new and updated features in 2024 Q3 — our biggest this year

20 new and updated features in 2024 Q3 — our biggest this year

We’re always rolling out new features for our members. For 2024 Q3 we’re rolling out twenty new and updated features, including one that was suggested by a member. On deck for next quarter are several additional member-requested features.

In this edition of our quarterly updates, I’m most excited about the integration of the new Northwest Preservation Ordinance, Low Affordability Communities, and dozens of new or improved articles in our rapidly-expanded Knowledge Base.

Major updates

• Property Reports in Chicago have been updated to reflect the new boundary of the Northwest Preservation Ordinance (formerly the Predominance of the Block, 606, District). Read our separate blog post about this.
• Proactive zoning: select one of the listed possible upzones in Property Finder and Chicago Cityscape will calculate the number of dwelling units at every lot based on each lot’s current and possible zoning districts (read the Knowledge Base Article)
• Chicago has five special sign districts which have different standards for signs on buildings. Property Report’s Zoning Assessment will highlight if a location you looked up is in one of the five sign districts. Learn more about these sign districts in our Knowledge Base.

Low Affordability Communities

Chicago Cityscape has now fully integrated “Low Affordability Communities” (LAC), which are areas designated by Chicago City Council that give property owners the option to apply for a reduced assessed value when certain criteria about on-site affordable housing and minimum renovations (or new construction) are met.

• Every Property Report’s Zoning Assessment will indicate if a property is in a Low Affordability Community.
• Surrounding Places will indicate if there is an LAC nearby.
• We have a new article in our Knowledge Base so our members can learn more about LACs.
• You can view a map of all of the 7 adopted and 3 proposed LACs.

Other improvements & additions

• It’s now possible to use Property Finder in Chicago to exclude properties in a given zoning district. This follows a longstanding filter to include only properties based on their zoning district.
• Added Elected Representative School Board districts to the Places database (Place Report, and Surrounding Places). Learn more about the ERSB districts, which are important on election day.
• Search now shows the ward and community area of any Chicago address, saving time for some users who only needed that information in the moment.
• Incentives Checker has a new incentive: Equity Investment Eligible Community. What is it? Certain clean energy projects in Illinois require a minimum number of workers who are Equity Eligible Persons and hailing from an EIEC makes one eligible
• Company Profiles now have building permit filters (this was requested by one of our members who wanted a better way to find specific past permits they had been part of).
• Developments Gallery has a new category search to make it easier to find images (including renderings and photos) featuring specific elements, like floor plans and site plans, for example.
• Lending & Investment Snapshot is now called Demographics Snapshot to reflect the change in focus of that webpage.

Tons of new & improved Knowledge Base articles

• New articles: Using our API, Affordable housing data, Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus, Pedestrian Streets, Property Report notifications, an index of articles that help one find developable property, Building violations, One-time purchases, Zoning Board of Appeals decisions
• Dozens of articles have been updated, including: Billing Portal (specifically the instructions to add another member), Home electrification and Buying an electric home, Features for property tax attorneys, Features for appraisers

Routine data updates

• The building footprints dataset was updated; learn about how to use building footprints in this updated Knowledge Base article).
• Property tax appeals data was added and goes back to 2017. Find this in the “Property & Ownership info” section of Property Report.
• Amenities & social infrastructure data was updated through June 2024.
• ZBA decisions updated through August 2024 (available in Place Report)
• 2023 tax bills are now mostly integrated (about 40 percent of Cook County properties do not have 2023 tax bills added yet, but that should be done by the end of October).
• The following quantity of cannabis business establishments were added or updated, across Illinois: 37 dispensaries, eight craft growers, and 50 infusers. Learn how to find cannabis-eligible property.
• The ChiBlockBuilder inventory of 351 properties owned by the city was published on October 1, 2024, and we updated our copy on the same day. Learn how to use this inventory.

Note that property sales will be updated for Q3 in mid-October and the Chicago zoning map with September changes will also be updated later this month.

20 new and updated features in 2024 Q3 — our biggest this year was originally published in Chicago Cityscape’s Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.