“A nearly vacant five-story brick building on the West Side will come back to life this summer as The Fillmore Center, eventually employing hundreds and bringing business activity back to North Lawndale, a neighborhood hit by decades of disinvestment.
“Steans Family Foundation, a Chicago philanthropy, bought the 111-year-old property at 4100 W. Fillmore St. for $3.3 million in 2022, and construction crews are transforming portions of its cavernous interior into Fillmore Linen Service, an industrial-scale laundry that will serve Chicago hospitals.
“The city’s Community Development Commission recommended Tuesday that City Council greenlight a redevelopment agreement between the foundation, its neighborhood partners and the city.
“The move will eventually unlock up to $10 million in tax increment financing assistance, said Patricia Ford, the foundation’s executive director, helping complete the $40 million project and bring in more business.
“‘North Lawndale is a business desert, so business attraction has always been one of our goals,’ she said. ‘We want to make sure we’re reducing North Lawndale’s unemployment rate.’
“The foundation will also use tax credits and other grants, including $1.25 million from the Chicago Community Trust’s We Rise Together program, to finance the reconstruction.
“Ford envisions the 168,000-square-foot building, originally built for the Calumet Baking Powder Co., providing up to 300 jobs through the laundry and several minority-owned businesses, including Kribi Coffee Air Roastery and Southside Blooms, a flower wholesaler.”
Read the full story at Chicago Tribune
- Fillmore Center project, touted as jobs engine for struggling North Lawndale, clears city commission, Brian Rogal, Chicago Tribune, 3/6/24
- CDC approves $7 million in TIF for Fillmore Center; The redevelopment would rehabilitate the vacant industrial building, Lukas Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 3/12/24