Market Rate Development applications are intended for any type of use appropriate for the location and surrounding zoning, including industrial, housing or business uses such as a store, restaurant or office. Depending on the zoning, developments may also be mixed-use buildings with both commerical space, housing, nonprofit or institutional projects.

Purchase price: 

• The market value of vacant, City-owned property listed for sale is located on ChiBlockBuilder.com.   
• If the property marketed for sale is a cluster of two or more lots, the market value is the aggregate value of the entire cluster of lots.  
• Applicants for properties requiring a Market Rate Development properties are expected to offer the market value listed or higher. Purchase offers less than the listed market value will also be considered for proposals providing a significant public benefit, such as a community or institutional development project.

Name of individual or of business or non-profit

• Individuals must include their full legal first and last name. 
• Non-profits or businesses must include their legal and DBA name as registered with the Illinois Secretary of State. 

Address of residence, non-profit, or business

• Individuals must provide their primary residence address. 
• Non-profits or businesses must provide their physical business address. 

Project description

• Provide details regarding the proposed use and/or physical improvements for the subject property or site. 

Site plan

• A dimensioned and to-scale site plan that labels all proposed physical improvements, distance from lot lines, and any key activity areas is required.  

Project budget

• In addition to an itemization of the project costs, funding for the project must also be identified and secured, as well as any funding gaps. 

Demonstrated community engagement

• Applicant demonstrates that there has been communication with area residents, businesses, community organizations and alders about the project. 

Description of impact on immediate block area and surrounding community

• This should include an analysis of the anticipated benefits as well as speak to anticipated negative impacts or externalities and how they will be mitigated or addressed. 

Purchase offer

• Each application must include a proposed purchase price. Market RateDevelopment applications for for-profit developments are expected to offer the full market value orabove for the property, but DPD will consider below-market offers for proposals that providesignificant public benefit as outlined below.

Public Benefits

• Priority is given to projects that provide tangible public benefits, such as housing units for sale or leaseless than market rates, new or retained jobs, new retail services in an underserved community, culturalactivities, social services, fiscal benefits, reactivation of a historic building, innovative environmentallysustainable features, or specific priorities identified in the listing or program guide, if applicable.

  Applicants that are proposing site assembly with adjacent non-city owned parcels will be considered interms of catalytic impact as well.

Economic Disclosure Statement (EDS) 

• This can be completed online here. Download a PDF copy to upload to the application. 

Indebtedness check

• The applicant must not have any outstanding debts or financial obligations to the City or delinquent real estate property taxes.    
• If the applicant is a non-profit, the indebtedness check is performed on the non-profit organization and its officers. 
• If the applicant is a business, the indebtedness check is performed on all ownership interests of greater than 7.5 percent (7.5%).   

Applications are scored to assess the qualifications of the applicant and for the completenessand readiness of a project. Market rate applications will be reviewed and scored based on theoverall total points from each of the below categories. If DPD determines any or all proposalsfor a given property fail to adequately advance planning goals, the department may selectnone.

After the evaluation scoring, DPD may select a shortlist of applicants before proceeding withan additional round of evaluation. DPD may request additional information from applicants andrequire applicants to attend and present at one or more community meetings to explain theirprojects and respond to questions as part of the evaluation process. Applicants may be givenadditional time during this evaluation process to refine their proposals based on feedbackreceived from the department, the community and elected officials. The final proposals fromthe applicants will then be re-evaluated by DPD following the same scoring rubric.

The City reserves the right, at any time and in its sole and absolute discretion, to reject any or allsubmissions, or to withdraw the land sale application request without notice. In no event shall theCity be liable to respondents for any cost or damages incurred by respondents, team members,consultants, or other interested parties in connection with the land sales process, including but notlimited to any and all costs of preparing the preliminary cost budget or other submitted materials,and participation in any conferences, oral presentations or negotiations.

DPD reserves the right to update the application scoring for each new round of MarketRate Development applications.

Updates will be reflected below.

The specific criteria for each category are as follows:   

Proof of experience (0-30)

Priority is given to applicants who demonstrate qualifications of the development team, proven experience completing similar projects and capacity to execute the project as proposed in a timely manner. Project experience in the community area will be considered as well. Rubric below:

• 0 to 10                Team composition
• 0 to 10                Development team experience  
• 0 to 10                Prior development projects 

Project plans and financial feasibility (0-40)

Priority is given to projects with clear plans and designs, a realistic timeline and proof of secured funding. Project budgets should include estimated costs for any required site remediation and construction. Rubric below: 

• 0 to 20               Project plans and readiness
• 0 to 10                Detailed budget  
• 0 to 10                Financial feasibility

Purchase offer amount (0-10)

Priority is given to applications that offer a reasonable purchase price that meets or exceeds the market value listed for the property or properties. Purchase offers less than market value may result in a lower application score, lower financial feasibility score and lower project readiness score. DPD may also decide to decline any application with a purchase offer less than market value. Alternatively, DPD may consider an offer less than market rate if the development meets the redevelopment goals of the community or offers additional tangible public benefits. Rubric below:

• 0 to 10                Purchase offer 

Public benefits (0-10)

Priority is given to projects that provide tangible public benefits, such as affordable housing units, new or retained jobs, new retail services in an underserved community, cultural activities, social services, fiscal benefits, innovative environmentally sustainable features, or specific priorities identified in the listing, if applicable. Applicants that are proposing site assembly with adjacent non-city owned parcels will be considered in terms of catalytic impact as well. Rubric below:

• 0 to 5                Programmatic public benefits
• 0 to 5                Fiscal, jobs and catalytic impact public benefits

Conformance to plans and community engagement (0-10)

Priority is given to projects that conform to existing plans (either adopted by the City or by the community), meet the specific priorities identified in the directed listing (if applicable), and can demonstrate engagement with elected officials, adjacent neighbors, community organizations and businesses in the block area and surrounding neighborhood. Rubric below: 

• 0 to 5                Conformance with plans
• 0 to 5                Community engagement