# Finding opportunities for ground floor residential Chicago's zoning code generally does not permit dwelling units on the ground floor in retail and commercial districts. ## Zoning permission Two groups of zoning districts allow ground floor housing as of right: - B2 - DR The tutorial below explains how to find properties in these zoning districts. There are two other ways to get zoning permission: - It's also possible to request a special use from the Zoning Board of Appeals to allow ground floor housing in all other B, C, and D zoning districts. - In another situation, approval [[Converting ground floor commercial to residential via Administrative Adjustment|via administrative adjustment]] may also be an option. ## How to find eligible buildings This tutorial will guide you through finding buildings in Chicago that are already zoned to allow ground floor residential in a Place Report (Places are areas including community areas, wards, ZIP codes, and other places including ones your draw yourself). We provide two methods to find these eligible buildings: 1. Find any property with a B2 or DR zoning, including vacant lots, unclassified properties, and tax exempt properties (owned by governments, places of worship, and non-profit organizations). 2. Find existing mixed-use and commercial buildings with B2 or DR zoning. Use the methods separately. If the methods are combined then there may be unexpected results. ### Before the tutorial starts The following tutorial focuses on finding multiple eligible buildings, but there are two other features to consider: 1. Open the Property Report for any of your properties in Chicago and if ground floor housing is allowed then the Property Report will call that out in the Zoning Assessment (see *screenshot 1*).  *Screenshot 1: The Property Report Zoning Assessment will indicate that ground floor residential is allowed if the property is in a B2 or DR zoning district.* 2. [Site Selector](/sitelocator.php) can display a citywide map of where the zoning districts are, but not highlight individual parcels. In the "Choose a specific zoning district" dropdown menu, search for the word "ground" and select "Ground floor residential allowed". Tip: If you spot an area that you want to investigate further, right-click (computers) or long press (mobile) on the map to open a Property Report of that location. ### Method 1: Any property with a B2 or DR zoning 1. Open a Place Report. Use one of our [[Sample reports|sample Place Reports]] if needed. 2. Open Property Finder if it didn't already load. 3. Scroll down to the Property Finder filters below the data table. 4. Locate the "Filter by Chicago zoning" filter. Click or tap inside the search box. Using the keyboard, enter the word "ground" and select "Ground floor residential allowed". This is a custom group that includes all of the B2 and DR zoning districts. 5. Select the "Apply filters" button. 6. The map and data table will refresh to show only the properties with B2 or DR zoning, which indicates ground floor residential is allowed as of right. Add the property class or government-owned land filters to find which of the properties might be vacant. As of April 6, 2023, there are about 10,869 responsive properties, however 2,405 of those are not condos. ### Method 2: Mixed-use and commercial buildings with B2 or DR zoning This method will find existing mixed-use and commercial buildings with B2 or DR zoning. Specifically it looks for properties with a mixed-use or commercial property classification assigned by the Cook County Assessor's Office. 1. Open a Place Report. Use one of our [[Sample reports|sample Place Reports]] if needed. 2. Open Property Finder if it didn't already load. 3. Scroll down to the Property Finder filters below the data table. 4. Locate the "Special & value add filters" filter and select the "Ground floor residential" radio button. 5. Select the "Apply filters" button. 6. The map and data table will refresh to show existing mixed-use and commercial buildings with B2 or DR zoning, which indicates ground floor residential is allowed as of right. As of April 6, 2023, there are about 594 responsive properties. # Related articles Refer to other Knowledge Base articles that describe other ways to find developable properties. - [[Value add properties|Find "value add" opportunities in Property Finder]] - [[Zoning Assessment]] - [[Converting ground floor commercial to residential via Administrative Adjustment]] The Chicago Department of Planning & Development (DPD) published [ground floor residential design guidelines](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/design-excellence.html) in March 2024.