The city of Evanston has recently encountered an unexpected challenge in its efforts to promote affordable housing. A townhome project at 3233-3249 Central St. has revealed a loophole in the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance which was updated in April 2025 to increase the base requirement for income-restricted units in new developments from 10% to 15%.
The project, developed by Anthony Kaplunov, initially faced scrutiny for not meeting the city’s affordable housing requirements. However, Kaplunov found a way to comply with the ordinance by taking advantage of an incentive that allows larger affordable units to count as more than one unit toward the project’s minimum requirement.
Uncovering the Loophole
The Land Use Commission initially rejected an 11-unit version of the project in March. The revised 10-unit version was approved in July but became subject to the new ordinance. This meant the project’s required minimum grew from one affordable unit to 1.5, giving Kaplunov three options: sell a second unit at an income-restricted price, pay a $736,650 in-lieu fee, or convince the City Council to approve an “alternative equivalent.”
Kaplunov chose the third option with a $33,000 offer in August, but councilmembers were not impressed. The request was held in committee until Monday, but Kaplunov did not return. Instead, he found a “loophole” in the ordinance, as Planning Manager Liz Williams put it at Tuesday’s Housing and Community Development Committee meeting.
The loophole involves the bedroom counts in the units. Since all 10 units initially had four bedrooms each, Kaplunov turned nine of them into three-bedrooms to make the affordable unit fit the incentive, putting it over the line for the ordinance’s minimum requirement. This move did not require changing the units’ square footage or any other major aspect approved by the Land Use Commission, making it a valid change that won’t need reapproval.
Revisiting the Ordinance
The townhome project’s discussion was part of a larger conversation about revising the new Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. Some councilmembers want to reshuffle its rules in light of how it’s been used since taking effect. The committee talked at length about extending the affordability period for designated income-restricted units from 30 years to 99 years or in perpetuity.
Councilmember Juan Geracaris (9th Ward) expressed disappointment over the lack of another affordable unit or larger in-lieu payment but acknowledged that the city “could have predicted this” outcome when the incentive was created. He suggested that the loophole “is something we have to close the door on” when the ordinance is revised again in the future.
Councilmember Matt Rodgers (8th Ward) argued that, since reduced property taxes are such a large benefit already from the state and Cook County, the city shouldn’t be “giving away the store” in additional local bonuses to projects that pursue the program. He named the 605 Davis St. high-rise as an example, pointing out that it received an allowance for 124 extra market-rate units from the ordinance on top of the property tax break.
Bobby Burns (5th Ward) responded that, before getting rid of bonuses for projects that take the tax break, he wants to see data from other Illinois communities that don’t have ordinances like Evanston’s to compare the abatement program’s effect on both. He also spoke favorably about extending the affordability term in perpetuity but said that any changes to the ordinance should be aimed at balancing more affordability and more housing
Tuesday’s discussion was just an opening conversation on updating the ordinance, and city staff will return with more detailed proposals at a future meeting. The committee also voted to recommend spending about $1.7 million in remaining federal stimulus funds to acquire and preserve expiring affordable apartment units and to table expanding a housing rehab program to include multifamily buildings to next month’s meeting.
