DR-5 Downtown Residential District A Chicago zoning district · Title 17
Downtown Residential — high-rise housing in areas like the Gold Coast and Near North. Height is set through Planned Development review.
Example on a 120 × 200 ft lot. The dashed box is the maximum zoning envelope, the buildable footprint after setbacks, raised to the §17-8-0512 Planned Development height threshold (130 ft). The solid building is an illustrative example at FAR 5: covering the full footprint reaches only ~7 stories before the floor-area cap binds, so a taller building needs a smaller floor plate. Downtown massing steps a slender tower back from the street, spending its floor area on height rather than coverage. Front yard is context-dependent (average of adjacent lots); actual varies.
Specifications
- Zoning Ordinance reference
- §17-4-0100
View in the Chicago Zoning Ordinance - Floor area ratio (FAR)
- 5
- Maximum building height
- No fixed limit; tall buildings require Planned Development review and height is negotiated with the Department of Planning & Development. §17-8-0512.
- Lot area per unit (density)
- 200 sq ft of lot area per dwelling unit. 135 sq ft per efficiency unit; 100 sq ft per SRO unit.
- Minimum lot area
- —
- Rear yard open space
- —
- On-site open space
- —
- Parking requirements
- Downtown districts set their own parking standard rather than the §17-10-0207 residential ratio.
Setbacks
- Front yard
- The lesser of 15 ft or 12% of lot depth, or the average of the adjacent lots. §17-2-0305.
- Side yard
- None required.
- Rear yard
- The lesser of 50 ft or ~28–30% of lot depth, applied to portions of the building 18 ft or more above grade.
Allowed Uses
Curated from the §17-4-0207 use table. P = permitted by-right; S = special-use approval required. Always confirm against the full ordinance text.
- Household living (dwelling units, multi-unit, townhouse, two-flat)
- Group living (assisted living, nursing home, community homes)
- Cultural exhibits & libraries
- Parks & recreation
- Office
- Eating & drinking establishments
- Food/beverage retail & general retail
- Financial services
- Personal service
- Medical service
- Entertainment & spectator sports
- Adult use
- Hospital
- Religious assembly
- Drive-through facility
- Animal services
- Major utilities & services
- Manufacturing / industrial service (limited)
- Warehousing / freight (limited)
In Chicago, DR-5 allows a floor area ratio of 5 and a height limit of No fixed limit; tall buildings require Planned Development review and height is negotiated with the Department of Planning & Development. §17-8-0512.. The figures above are the DR-5 standards as the Chicago Zoning Ordinance states them, each citation linking to the section it comes from in our hosted copy of Title 17. What a specific lot allows also depends on its frontage, depth, corner or through geometry, and any overlay it sits in — run the DR-5 numbers for your lot to see those applied.
Reference figures are modeled from the Chicago Zoning Ordinance (Title 17) for general guidance and do not constitute zoning or legal advice. Lot-specific limits depend on frontage, depth, adjacencies and overlays — analyze a specific address for exact figures. Always confirm against the official ordinance.