A Presidential Monument Comes to the South Side: Chicago’s Controversial ‘TOPA’ Response to Gentrification Concerns

Over the last several years, the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) has steadily risen from Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago. The OPC, which includes nearly 20 acres as part of its campus, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands each year to the area. Though not yet open, the OPC’s arrival has already drawn investment interest in the surrounding neighborhood, leading to concerns of gentrification and rising rents that threaten to push out existing residents.

Rising rents are an issue nationwide, and city and state governments have employed all types of methods to stem the increases, from rent control laws to tenant bills of rights. In response to the gentrification concerns in Jackson Park, however, Chicago has turned to a tool less utilized than others: a “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).”

A TOPA provides tenants with a statutory right of first refusal (ROFR) on any offer to purchase their building. At its most basic, if a landlord agrees to sell the property, they must first notify their tenants and allow them the opportunity to purchase on the same or similar terms. To proponents of TOPAs, the rationale is that a statutory ROFR would spur tenants to organize and purchase their building, thereby preventing ownership by an investor whose principal objective is maximizing returns. The tenants would then operate the building with an eye toward affordability rather than profit, preserving the character of their neighborhood while guarding against hiked rents and subsequent tenant turnover. 

Against the backdrop of gentrification concerns around the OPC, Chicago’s Jackson Park TOPA Program (Program) went into effect on April 6, 2026. An expansion of a similar TOPA program on the city’s Northwest side, the Jackson Park TOPA Program applies to several square miles of neighborhood around the OPC, and its implementation has already stirred controversy among residents, community organizations and industry leaders. 

The key issue, according to opponents of the program, is timing delay. The Program mandates waiting periods at different stages of a transaction. For buildings with five or more units and without a tenants’ association, rental property owners must provide 60 days’ notice of their intent to list or offer the property for sale. And when an owner does accept a third-party offer, they must provide notice to the tenants of the offer and allow 90 days for the tenants to organize and elect to exercise their ROFR. If tenants do so elect — and provide any earnest money required under the contract (which the Program caps at five percent of the contract price) — the owner must then allow another 120 days for the tenants to secure financing and conduct due diligence, on which the tenants’ acceptance is deemed to be contingent upon. All told, when an owner accepts a third-party offer, the parties may need to wait up to 210 days before knowing whether the tenants will purchase the property, leaving the third-party contract hanging in a state of uncertainty.

Uncertainty, to critics of TOPA programs like Chicago’s, introduces additional costs and hinders the ability of buyers to secure financing — third-party buyers (and their lenders) may have to wait seven months before knowing whether they will be able to purchase a property. And for the lenders that are willing to commit funds, they may factor in the uncertainty with higher interest rates and less favorable terms. To opponents, the result is dampened investment interest, which in turn means fewer units and higher rents. But whether these concerns pan out in Jackson Park remains to be seen. 

What is clear, though, is that buying and selling property in the neighborhoods around Chicago’s newest landmark will be different and will require careful attention to the new regulations. While cities across the country may not be dealing with the same precipitating events as the development of a presidential center, many have similar concerns of affordability and gentrification, and may look to this program for guidance. Real estate investors would be wise, then, to monitor the effects of Chicago’s Jackson Park TOPA Program and track the adoption of similar programs nationwide as cities continue to seek solutions to affordability.