In coordination with the Office of Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Department of Housing (DOH) is proud to collaborate with the Chicago Housing Authority and the Department of Planning and Development on the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant application to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The PRO Housing grant opportunity is a national competition of over $85 million to remove local barriers to the creation and preservation of affordable housing and to address an acute demand for affordable housing for households at or below 100% of the area's median income. HUD anticipates awarding 20 local jurisdictions with grants ranging from $1 million to $10 million. 

The City of Chicago, through PRO-CHI application, seeks funding to address two critical barriers that hinder development of affordable housing in Chicago: the lack of city control of land in amenity-rich areas of opportunity; and complex, uncoordinated processes that prevent the city and its development partners from effectively developing land into new housing. With financial support from the PRO Housing program, DOH and its partners will implement two critical activities: (1) an interagency land acquisition and development plan that allows the city to effectively assemble and prepare land for affordable housing development, and (2) an interdepartmental “green tape” initiative to streamline city processes and dramatically decrease development timelines and associated costs. 

The City would like to hear from you on how we can strengthen our application to HUD to help address this critical work housing work. Public comment for the PRO-CHI application is open from October 11 to October 25, 2023, and a public hearing was hosted on Tuesday October 17, 2023 in room 1003-A in City Hall (121 N LaSalle) from 10:00am to 12:00pm. A recording of the public hearing can be found here, and the presentation shown during the public hearing can be downloaded here.

Please review the PRO-CHI application below, and send us your comment to PRO-CHI@cityofchicago.org or by filling out the PRO-CHI comment form. In your comment, please state your name, the organization you represent, and your thoughts on the plan. If you are not making a comment from an organization, please say that you are sending a comment as a resident of Chicago. All comments, including the name and organization, must be sent to the Department of Housing and Urban Development per the application guidelines.  

DOWNLOAD THE PRO-CHI APPLICATION DRAFT

DOWNLOAD THE WORKPLAN AND BUDGET DRAFT

PRO-CHI COMMENT FORM

RECORDING OF PUBLIC HEARING

PRESENTATION ON CHICAGO'S PRO-HOUSING GRANT APPLICATION

IMPORTANT DATES

October 11 - October 25: Public comment period for the PRO-CHI application

October 17: Public hearing, hosted in room 1003-A in City Hall (121 N LaSalle) from 10am to 12pm