ULI Chicago partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to encourage market-driven reuse of vacant and under-utilized buildings in Chicago. The Partnership is a part of a larger collaboration between ULI and the National Trust to enhance building reuse opportunities in major cities across the United States.

Goal
Repurposing older, underutilized buildings to new uses is environmentally sustainable, can transform a source of blight into a neighborhood anchor and can also reap economic benefits. Recognizing the importance of building reuse in creating healthy, sustainable communities, the continuing goal of the Partnership is to make it easier for property owners and developers to reuse older buildings instead of tearing down and building anew.

Process
The Partnership identified the most significant barriers to building reuse in Chicago and developed recommendations to overcome them. In addition to an in-depth analysis of building characteristics and related attributes, the Partnership conducted interviews and convened industry experts to facilitate a sharing of knowledge and experience in building reuse, leading us towards potential solutions that are grounded in reality.

Reports

• Implementation Memorandum | Building on Chicago’s Strengths: The Partnership for Building Reuse
  Published to provide a roadmap for translating ideas and recommendations presented in the building reuse report into actions.
• Final Report | Building on Chicago’s Strengths: The Partnership for Building Reuse
  The final Partnership report summarizing recommendations and action items to encourage market-driven reuse of vacant and under-utilized buildings in Chicago.