Home Builders Ass'n of Greater Chicago v. City of Chicago

213 F. Supp. 3d 1019, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135084, 2016 WL 5720482
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 30, 2016
DocketNo. 15 C 8268
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 3d 1019 (Home Builders Ass'n of Greater Chicago v. City of Chicago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Home Builders Ass'n of Greater Chicago v. City of Chicago, 213 F. Supp. 3d 1019, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135084, 2016 WL 5720482 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

REBECCA R. PALLMEYER, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Hoyne Development LLC (“Hoyne”) is a real estate developer. In 2012, Hoyne purchased commercial property in Chicago’s 47th ward, intending to seek re-zoning and develop the property for residential use. Hoyne succeeded in getting the property re-zoned, but as a condition of obtaining budding permits, the City of Chicago demanded that Hoyne comply with its Affordable Requirements Ordinance (“ARO”), a measure to increase the availability of affordable housing in Chicago. Specifically, the City required Hoyne to set aside two housing units for rent or sale to low-income residents, or pay a $200,000 fee. Hoyne complied by paying the fee. It then filed this action in state court, alleging that the ARO constitutes a taking in violation of the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions, both facially and as applied to Hoyné. Hoyne also alleged a state law claim that the City exceeded its authority under the ARO in its application of the ordinance to Hoyne. Plaintiff Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (“HBAGC”), a real estate trade association, joined Hoyne in the facial challenge to the ordinance. The City of Chicago removed the case to this court and moves to dismiss for failure to state a claim. For the reasons set forth here, the court grants the motion and dismisses Plaintiffs’ complaint without prejudice.

FACTS

In May 2012, Hoyne Development signed a contract to buy two contiguous parcels at the corner of Irving Park and Hoyne in Chicago. (Compl. ¶ 11.) At the time of purchase, these properties were zoned as commercial properties.1 (Compl. ¶ 12-13.) Hoyne intended to develop the properties as three buildings: two six-unit condo buildings, and one building with two [1022]*1022apartments and retail space. (Compl. ¶ 14.) Hoyne applied for a zoning change that would allow for significantly greater density in the project, and for a special use authorization to allow residential units on the ground floor of the two six-unit buildings. (Compl. ¶ 15.) Such a zoning change, which allows for more development options, including more permitted uses and greater density, is referred to as “up-zoning.” (Def.’s Mem.in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss (“Def.’s Mem.”) at 4); (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Resp.”) at 8). The Chicago City Council approved the up-zoning and the authorization for ground floor residential units. (Compl. ¶ 17; Ex. 3 Def.’s Mem. at 44457.) Hoyne then applied to separate the properties into three separate tax parcels. (Compl. ¶ 17.) Hoyne later closed on the purchase and applied for building permits for the three buildings. (Compl. ¶ 18.)

The City “placed a hold” on the permits in April 2013, and refused to issue them unless Hoyne complied with the City’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, Chicago Municipal Code 2-45-110 (“ARO”). (Compl. ¶ 1, 19.) The ARO applies, in relevant part, to “residential housing projeet[s]” of ten units or more when the property has been granted a zoning change that (1) increases the allowable density of the development, or (2) permits the development of residential units that were not allowed under the prior zoning designation. Chicago Municipal Code 2-45-110. If the ARO applies to a specific project, developers must either (1) dedicate ten percent of the new units as affordable housing for rent or sale for thirty years, or (2) pay a fee of $100,000 per required unit into an affordable housing fund. Id. After thirty years, the units are no longer bound by the ARO restrictions. Id.2,

The City characterized Hoyne’s three proposed buildings as a single “residential housing project” of fourteen units. (Compl. ¶ 19.) The City’s policy has been to round up to the nearest whole number for purposes of calculating the required number of affordable units. (Compl. ¶ 23 & n.3.) Consistent with that policy, the City demanded that Hoyne either provide two affordable units or pay $200,000 to comply with the ARO, and it refused to issue the building permits until Hoyne did so. (Compl. ¶ 19, 26.) Hoyne objected, asserting that the three buildings are not one project, and that even if the ARO does apply to the buildings as one project, two affordable units would exceed the ARO’s ten percent requirement. (Compl. ¶ 20-21.) Hoyne nevertheless executed and recorded the City’s “Affordable Rental Unit Covenant,” designating two units as affordable housing, and sent the City a letter of protest. (Compl. ¶ 27-28.) On June 29, 2015, Hoyne paid $200,000 to the City. (Compl. ¶ 30.)

Hoyne and HBAGC then filed this suit. HBAGC members include other real estate developers who have also been required to comply with the terms of the ARO. (Compl. ¶46.) In Count I, both Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the ARO is unconstitutional on its face. (Compl. ¶ 47.) In Count II, Hoyne seeks a declaratory judgment that (1) that the ARO is [1023]*1023unconstitutional as applied to Hoyne, and (2) that the City exceeded its authority under the ARO by requiring that Hoyne dedicate two units as affordable housing. (Compl. ¶ 51.) In Count II, Hoyne also reiterates its demand for a declaratory judgment that the ARO is “not enforceable.” (Compl. ¶ 52.)

DISCUSSION

I. Legal Standard

To survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain sufficient facts to state a plausible claim, that is, “factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1987, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). When ruling on such a motion, the court presumes all well-pleaded facts in the com plaint to be true, and views them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Doe v. Vill. of Arlington Heights, 782 F.3d 911, 914-15 (7th Cir. 2015). A viable complaint must include “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Plausibility requires “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. While a complaint does not need detailed factual allegations, mere concluso-ry labels or formulaic statements reciting the elements of a claim are not sufficient. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal citations and quotations omitted). This same standard applies to constitutional claims under the Takings Clause. See Marozsan v. Speybroeck, 165 F.3d 32 (7th Cir. 1998) (unpublished table decision) (dismissing a claim where the plaintiff did not allege “that the rights lost [were] so essential to the use or economic value of [the] property that [a] state-authorized limitation of it amounted to a taking”) (second and third alterations in original) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

II. Federal Law Claims

A. The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine

Plaintiff Hoyne contends the ARO violates the Constitution’s Takings Clause both on its face (Count I) and as applied (Count II). Both challenges invoke the “unconstitutional conditions” doctrine, as articulated in

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
213 F. Supp. 3d 1019, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135084, 2016 WL 5720482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-builders-assn-of-greater-chicago-v-city-of-chicago-ilnd-2016.