Mayor Brandon Johnson’s City Council allies are closing in on a compromise that will deliver on his promise to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to create a dedicated funding source to help the unhoused, but the owners of large office buildings that have plummeted in value are not on the train.
Zoning Committee Chair Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) said the compromise that Chicago voters will be asked to approve in a binding referendum in March is the one that now former Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara floated during a three-hour subject matter hearing last month.
