Class L Property Tax Incentive
Chicago
The Office of the Cook County Assessor and the Chicago Department of Planning and Development were honored for this impactful new incentive. In 1997, the Cook County Assessor’s office adopted an innovative new economic incentive for the preservation and rehabilitation of the county’s landmark commercial and industrial properties. Since its adoption, the “Class L” property tax incentive has assisted in the rehabilitation of more than a dozen local landmark structures, all of which had been in seriously dilapidated condition.
Among the projects that have benefited are: a vacant 1870 mansion that was converted into a bed-and-breakfast, several downtown Chicago high-rises that found new life as hotels and office buildings and a deteriorated commercial block in Oak Park that was converted into a conference hotel. (The program is available to the nine communities in Cook County that have local landmarks ordinances that have been certified by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.)