Englewood Connect to establish food hub, business incubator

The Englewood Connect project, a proposed development described by city officials as an "eco-food hub" designed to employ and feed area residents, is one of three winning INVEST South/West proposals announced earlier this month.

The $10.3 million project will create a business incubator to train start-ups, reuse the Green Street fire station as a commercial kitchen, establish a community "living room" that can be used for local events and add hoop houses to vacant land for year-round farming. The project is anticipated to provide around 45 permanent full-time jobs and 80 construction jobs.

“Thanks to INVEST South/West, residents in Auburn Gresham and our neighboring South and West communities are able to turn their dreams of entrepreneurship into reality," 17th Ward Alderman David Moore said in a city news release. "Once completed, each of these three winning projects will not only leave a lasting impact on the communities they reside in, but they will also inspire a wave of other residents from underrepresented backgrounds to also become business owners and changemakers within their communities." 

Other winning INVEST South/West proposals include the Austin United Alliance, which will renovate the former Laramie Bank building and incorporate a business incubator and blues museum, and Evergreen Imagine JV LLC, which will establish an affordable housing complex near the intersection of Halsted and 79th streets.

The second round of requests for proposals, which closed March 30, is for projects in North Lawndale, New City - Back of the Yards, South Chicago and Bronzeville areas.