Construction crane over a Chicago rail corridor

Chicago Has Approved $6.46 Billion in TIF Deal Subsidies Since 1986 — and the Two Biggest Went to the CTA

Chicago's TIF deal file, read whole: 767 council-approved redevelopment and intergovernmental agreements since 1986, $6.46 billion in approved subsidy against $24 billion in project costs. The CTA holds the two biggest; The 78 leads 2026; only 30 percent carry a completion certificate. Approvals, never disbursements.

Since December 1986, Chicago has approved 767 TIF-funded redevelopment and intergovernmental agreements — $6.46 billion in approved subsidy against $24.02 billion in stated project costs, by the city’s own deal file. The two biggest approvals in the ledger both go to the CTA: the Red Line Extension’s $959 million agreement in 2022 and the Red and Purple Modernization’s $622 million in 2016. The biggest of 2026 is The 78 — $424.9 million approved this July, 88 percent of the year’s total so far. And one column is thinner than the rest: just 233 of the 767 agreements, 30 percent, carry a certificate-of-completion date. An approval here is the agreement’s recorded subsidy — never money out the door, which our TIF ledger reads separately from the annual reports.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Funded RDA and IGA Projects, Chicago data portal · 767 rows retrieved August 18, 2026 · approval dates December 1986 through July 2026

What this file is, exactly

The dataset covers, in its own words, TIF-funded Redevelopment Agreements and Intergovernmental Agreements approved by City Council since the TIF program began — and it excludes public-infrastructure projects, so streets and sewers funded straight from TIF accounts are not in it. Each row carries the project, the developer or public body receiving the subsidy, the TIF district paying, the approved amount, the total project cost, and a Community Development Committee approval date. The file’s own data dictionary warns that a project with multiple developers may span rows; in the current file, none does — 767 rows, 767 distinct project ids, checked. One more check before reprinting anything: the file’s own subsidy-percentage column agrees with the approved amount divided by project cost on 753 of the 755 rows where all three exist, and the two that disagree are not used here.

The biggest agreements in the file

Largest approved subsidies, 1986–2026approved
  • Red Line Extension TIF IGA(CTA, 2022)$959.0M
  • Red and Purple Modernization Phase One(CTA, 2016)$622.0M
  • The 78(Roosevelt/Clark Partners, 2026)$424.9M
  • IGA – CBE – Jones – HS II(Chicago Public Schools, 2012)$114.6M

The top of the table is not private developers — it is transit and schools. The CTA holds the two largest agreements ever approved, and a Chicago Public Schools agreement for Jones College Prep sits fourth. The largest private-side deal is The 78, the Roosevelt and Clark megadevelopment, approved this July at $424.9 million. One cross-file note for readers of our TIF committee piece: the committee’s decision file records a $950 million Red Line Extension request approved in 2022, while this deal file records the agreement at $959 million — two different instruments in two different files, reported as each records them and not reconciled here.

The arc, by approval year

The busiest dollar-year in the file is 2022: 84 agreements carrying $1.31 billion, the Red Line Extension’s $959 million among them. And 2026, with six agreements through the file’s latest approval date in mid-July, already carries $485.0 million in approvals, The 78 accounting for 88 percent of it. Beyond the dollars, the file carries two quieter columns: 152 agreements record onsite affordable units, 11,681 units between them by the file’s own counts — and 233 of the 767 agreements, 30 percent, carry a certificate-of-completion date. Whether the other 534 projects are unfinished, finished but uncertified, or simply not updated in the file, the file does not say.

Where the deals landed

Most agreements by community areaagreements
  • Near West Side63
  • The Loop45
  • Near North Side41
  • Grand Boulevard30
  • Uptown29
TIF-funded RDA/IGA agreements by community area, 1986–2026 762 of the file’s 767 agreements, placed by their own coordinates 01–910–2930+ Albany Park: 10 agreementsArcher Heights: 1 agreementArmour Square: 9 agreementsAshburn: 3 agreementsAuburn Gresham: 6 agreementsAustin: 17 agreementsAvalon Park: 3 agreementsAvondale: 6 agreementsBelmont Cragin: 14 agreementsBeverly: 4 agreementsBridgeport: 16 agreementsBrighton Park: 7 agreementsBurnside: 4 agreementsCalumet Heights: 3 agreementsChatham: 7 agreementsChicago Lawn: 2 agreementsClearing: 3 agreementsDouglas: 13 agreementsDunning: 5 agreementsEast Garfield Park: 23 agreementsEast Side: 2 agreementsEdgewater: 19 agreementsEdison Park: 0 agreementsEnglewood: 11 agreementsForest Glen: 1 agreementFuller Park: 2 agreementsGage Park: 2 agreementsGarfield Ridge: 5 agreementsGrand Boulevard: 30 agreementsGreater Grand Crossing: 1 agreementHegewisch: 2 agreementsHermosa: 2 agreementsHumboldt Park: 25 agreementsHyde Park: 3 agreementsIrving Park: 5 agreementsJefferson Park: 5 agreementsKenwood: 6 agreementsLake View: 1 agreementLincoln Park: 1 agreementLincoln Square: 27 agreementsLogan Square: 18 agreementsLoop: 45 agreementsLower West Side: 16 agreementsMcKinley Park: 3 agreementsMontclare: 6 agreementsMorgan Park: 8 agreementsMount Greenwood: 2 agreementsNear North Side: 41 agreementsNear South Side: 28 agreementsNear West Side: 63 agreementsNew City: 20 agreementsNorth Center: 13 agreementsNorth Lawndale: 27 agreementsNorth Park: 16 agreementsNorwood Park: 0 agreementsOakland: 9 agreementsO’Hare: 0 agreementsPortage Park: 13 agreementsPullman: 6 agreementsRiverdale: 0 agreementsRogers Park: 6 agreementsRoseland: 2 agreementsSouth Chicago: 8 agreementsSouth Deering: 6 agreementsSouth Lawndale: 4 agreementsSouth Shore: 2 agreementsUptown: 29 agreementsWashington Heights: 2 agreementsWashington Park: 8 agreementsWest Elsdon: 0 agreementsWest Englewood: 9 agreementsWest Garfield Park: 5 agreementsWest Lawn: 4 agreementsWest Pullman: 5 agreementsWest Ridge: 10 agreementsWest Town: 17 agreementsWoodlawn: 5 agreements
767 deals, 72 community areas Each agreement placed by its own coordinates (point-in-polygon against the community-area boundaries); 762 of 767 place, and 5 without a usable point are excluded. The file’s own community-area column disagreed with its own coordinates on 13 rows, so this page uses its own placement throughout. Every area’s count is one tap away in the collapsible text list directly below.
Every community area’s count, in text

Near West Side 63; Loop 45; Near North Side 41; Grand Boulevard 30; Uptown 29; Near South Side 28; Lincoln Square 27; North Lawndale 27; Humboldt Park 25; East Garfield Park 23; New City 20; Edgewater 19; Logan Square 18; Austin 17; West Town 17; Bridgeport 16; Lower West Side 16; North Park 16; Belmont Cragin 14; Douglas 13; North Center 13; Portage Park 13; Englewood 11; Albany Park 10; West Ridge 10; Armour Square 9; Oakland 9; West Englewood 9; Morgan Park 8; South Chicago 8; Washington Park 8; Brighton Park 7; Chatham 7; Auburn Gresham 6; Avondale 6; Kenwood 6; Montclare 6; Pullman 6; Rogers Park 6; South Deering 6; Dunning 5; Garfield Ridge 5; Irving Park 5; Jefferson Park 5; West Garfield Park 5; West Pullman 5; Woodlawn 5; Beverly 4; Burnside 4; South Lawndale 4; West Lawn 4; Ashburn 3; Avalon Park 3; Calumet Heights 3; Clearing 3; Hyde Park 3; McKinley Park 3; Chicago Lawn 2; East Side 2; Fuller Park 2; Gage Park 2; Hegewisch 2; Hermosa 2; Mount Greenwood 2; Roseland 2; South Shore 2; Washington Heights 2; Archer Heights 1; Forest Glen 1; Greater Grand Crossing 1; Lake View 1; Lincoln Park 1.

No agreements placed: Edison Park, Norwood Park, O’Hare, Riverdale, West Elsdon.

Seventy-two of the 77 community areas hold at least one agreement, led by the Near West Side’s 63, the Loop’s 45, and the Near North Side’s 41 — with Grand Boulevard’s 30 the largest count outside the greater downtown. Counts measure agreements approved, not dollars: a single downtown megadeal can carry more subsidy than thirty small ones.

Known limits

Approved is a word about paperwork: it is the subsidy the agreement records, not a disbursement, a construction start, or a completion — our reading of the TIF annual reports tracks the money side, and the two are never combined. Total project costs are as stated in the file. Developers and public bodies are named as the file names them, with their as-filed amounts and nothing more. The file’s own scope excludes public-infrastructure projects, so this is the deal side of TIF, not the whole program. And the affordable-units and completion-certificate columns are the file’s own records, read as recorded.

  • Source Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Funded RDA and IGA Projects (mex4-ppfc, Chicago data portal), 767 rows retrieved August 18, 2026. The city’s TIF portal hosts the underlying agreement documents.
  • Counting One row is one agreement; the data dictionary’s multi-developer caveat was checked and does not occur in the current file. Dollar sums are the file’s approved-amount and project-cost values as recorded. Year figures use the Community Development Committee approval date. The file’s subsidy-percentage column was verified against approved amount over project cost (753 of 755 within one percentage point; the 2 outliers unused). Percentages are computed from raw sums.
  • Geography Each agreement was placed by its recorded coordinates against the city’s community-area boundary polygons (Boundaries – Community Areas, igwz-8jzy, GeoJSON export retrieved August 18, 2026) by point-in-polygon with the even-odd rule; 762 of 767 place. The file’s native community-area column disagreed with the file’s own coordinates on 13 rows and is not used.

Computed by KCM Desk from records retrieved August 18, 2026. If you spot an error, corrections come first.

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