March 12, 2015

Mayor Emanuel And Alderman Suarez Announce Newest Tenant At $60 Million Redevelopment Of “The Fields”

Companies Locating in The Fields are Expected to Create Over 1,000 New Jobs in the Avondale and Logan Square Neighborhoods; Part of $60 Million Redevelopment of Former Marshall Field's Warehouse Facility

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Alderman Ray Suarez and 4K Diversey Partners today to announce the newest tenant at “The Fields,” the $60 million mixed-use rehabilitation of the Iconic Marshall Fields Warehouse facility on the northwest corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. The facility has stood vacant since 2008.
 
The new 70,000-square-foot grocery store will bring 200 new jobs to the neighborhood when it opens later this year. In total, companies locating in The Fields are expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs in the Avondale and Logan Square neighborhoods and once again serve as an economic anchor for the neighborhoods.
 
“The Marshall Field’s warehouse site was a great economic engine of Chicago’s past but working together with the community, we are reinventing it to be an even better economic anchor of Avondale’s future,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “From the new grocery store, to the new businesses that are moving in, this transformation is bringing the jobs and economic opportunities that every neighborhood deserves. It speaks to the spirit of economic revival happening in neighborhoods all throughout the City of Chicago.”
 
Cermak Fresh Market will join Newlyweds Foods and Studio 41 as the first tenants at The Fields complex as part of the ongoing mixed-use rehabilitation of the 1.5 million-square-foot facility. Newly Wed Foods, a producer of food coatings, seasonings and other ingredients for the foodservice industry has leased approximately 100,000 square feet at The Fields and created 20 jobs on site. Studio 41, a manufacturer and distributor of windows and home design products has leased 65,000 square feet and expects to create 20 new jobs that will support production lines operated by the company at a nearby location. A fourth company, Deal Genius, has also now signed a long-term lease on the site.

“I would like to thank Mayor Emanuel, the city’s Department of Planning and Development and our community for helping to make this project a reality,” said Alderman Suarez. “Economic development has always been important for the working families and individuals in our community.  We are not only creating new jobs and opportunities for them, we are developing a destination place for our ward and the city.”  

The 22.5-acre complex is currently undergoing a $60 million rehabilitation for new industrial and commercial uses. The property was acquired in 2014 by 4K Diversey Partners LLC and when complete, will include 100,000 square feet of retail space, 150,000 square feet of live/work space, 500,000 square feet of industrial and warehouse space, 300,000 square feet of office space, plus parking. At full capacity, companies locating at The Fields are expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs.
 
In January 2015, City Council approved Class 6(b) property tax incentives for Newly Wed Foods and Studio 41 to rehabilitate two buildings on the site: a 103,000-square-foot building at 4029 West George Street and a 65,000-square-foot building at 4141 West George Street which will allow more room for production space at their other nearby locations.
 
Council also approved a Class 8 area certification that will provide expedited approvals on future Class 8 and Class 6(b) tax incentive applications by individual tenants that occupy property at the complex. The certification will continue for five years.
 
Built as a production and distribution plant by the Olson Rug company in the 1920s, the complex was acquired by Marshall Field & Co. in 1965 and subsequently used as a warehouse. Macy’s Inc. acquired the property in its takeover of Field’s in 2005 and the complex has sat vacant since it was closed in 2008.
 
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