Dissecting why Chicago's price tag for building new affordable housing is so high

Dissecting why Chicago's price tag for building new affordable housing is so high

In 2023, Chicago spent $747,000 per unit to build new, city-supported affordable housing. That’s much higher than market rate developments and more than double the cost of new affordable units in Houston, the country’s next largest city ($328,000). Because federal funding is tied to population rather than costs, as expenses rise the city mechanically builds fewer units than it otherwise would. If we managed to build at Houston’s cost, Chicago co…