Chicago zoning district · Commercial
C2-3 zoning in Chicago: what you can build
C2-3 (Motor Vehicle-Related Commercial 3) is a commercial district allowing ground-floor retail, multi-unit residential, mixed-use buildings and light industrial uses, with a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 3, a height limit of 65 feet, 400 square feet of lot area required per dwelling unit. On a standard 25 × 125 ft lot (3,125 sq ft) the density standard permits 7 dwelling units above the ground floor. Dwelling units are generally not permitted on the ground floor in C-districts — the ground floor is reserved for commercial space.
Figures originally read from a Title 17 excerpt in a third-party zoning report dated 18 September 2024. On 24 August 2026 the bulk standards — floor area ratio, lot area per unit, building height and minimum lot area — were re-checked against the current adopted edition 2026-S-73 and found unchanged. Setbacks and parking ratios were not part of that pass and still rest on the 2024 reading. Data snapshot generated 2026-08-24. How this data is produced and checked →
Where C2-3 is mapped
Zoom in for district codes
- Planned Manufacturing (PMD)
- Parks & Open Space (POS)
- Planned Development (PD)
- Downtown (DC/DR/DS/DX)
- Residential (RS/RT/RM)
- Business (B)
- Commercial (C)
- Manufacturing (M)
- Transportation (T)
- Other / unclassified
Zoning district boundaries: City of Chicago Data Portal. Basemap: © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
C2-3 bulk & density standards
| Maximum floor area ratio (FAR) | 3 verified §17-3-0403-A, Municipal Code of Chicago |
|---|---|
| Maximum building height | 65 ft verified §17-3-0408-A, Municipal Code of Chicago |
| Lot area per unit (density) | 400 sq ft / unit verified ≈ 108.9 units per acre §17-3-0402-A, Municipal Code of Chicago |
| Setbacks (front / side / rear) | 0 / 0 / 29.9 ft approximation Chicago setbacks are contextual formulas (averages of neighboring lots, % of lot width/depth). These are working scalars — confirm per lot. §17-3-0404..0406, Municipal Code of Chicago |
| Residential parking | 1 space / unit verified Before TOD / Connected Communities reductions. §17-10-0207-C, Municipal Code of Chicago |
| Maximum lot coverage | 75% approximation |
Verified figures match the ordinance table verbatim at the cited section. Approximation flags contextual formulas (setbacks that depend on neighboring lots, use-group-dependent parking) reduced to a working scalar — the ordinance formula governs.
Permitted uses
C2-3 allows ground-floor retail, multi-unit residential, mixed-use buildings and light industrial uses. Dwelling units generally sit above the ground floor; the ground floor stays commercial.
- ground-floor retail
- multi-unit residential
- mixed-use buildings
- light industrial uses
Supplemental standards
| Min. ground-floor floor-to-floor height | 13 ft verified Applies to commercial ground-floor space in a multi-floor building (excludes off-street parking). Verbatim: "minimum floor-to-floor height of 13 feet". §17-3-0305, Municipal Code of Chicago |
|---|---|
| Min. ground-floor commercial area (% of lot) | 20 % of lot verified §17-3-0305-B: at least 20% of lot area on lots with >=50 ft frontage. §17-3-0305-A: lots with <50 ft frontage instead require the greater of 800 sf or 25% of lot area. 20% is the common-case (>=50 ft) threshold. §17-3-0305-B, Municipal Code of Chicago |
Transit changes these numbers
Connected Communities bonus tier
C2-3 is one of the six districts (B1-3, B2-3, B3-3, C1-3, C2-3, C3-3) eligible for the Connected Communities bulk bonuses on transit-served lots — within 2,640 ft of a CTA or Metra rail station, or 1,320 ft of a designated bus corridor. With 100% of the ARO requirement on-site, max FAR rises 3.0 → 4.0 (§17-3-0403-B), lot area per unit falls 400 → 300 sq ft (§17-3-0402-B), and height can reach 75–80 ft depending on frontage and unit mix (§17-3-0408-B). The bonuses are contingent — they require a Type 1 map amendment, a planned development, or an ARO-covered entitlement, not by-right.
C2-3 — common questions
- How many units can I build on a standard lot in C2-3?
- A standard 25 × 125 ft Chicago lot (3,125 sq ft) divided by the 400 sq ft lot-area-per-unit standard permits 7 units by right. Transit-served lots may qualify for Connected Communities density bonuses.
- How tall can I build in C2-3?
- 65 feet (§17-3-0408-A). Taller buildings need a variation, a planned development, or — on transit-served B-3/C-3 lots — the Connected Communities height bonus.
- Can I put apartments in a C2-3 building?
- Yes, above the ground floor. C2-3 allows dwelling units in upper stories at 400 sq ft of lot area per unit; the ground floor must generally remain commercial.
- Are coach houses or conversion units allowed in C2-3?
- Coach houses are permitted by right in B1–C2 districts; conversion units are permitted too, though some districts require special-use approval in certain cases (§17-3-0207). Buildings 20+ years old can add conversion units equal to 33% of existing units (§17-3-0309).
- Do parking requirements in C2-3 change near transit?
- Yes. The base requirement is 1 space per unit, but under the Connected Communities ordinance (§17-10-0102-B) lots within ½ mile of a CTA or Metra rail station — or ¼ mile of a designated bus corridor — can reduce residential parking minimums, up to 100% by right for CTA-rail- and bus-served lots outside downtown districts.
Compare C2-3
No direct comparisons published for this district yet.