The city council votes this week on $9 million in tax increment financing for demolition, environmental remediation and site assembly. The city has been working for nearly 20 years to find new space for tenants of South Water Market in the 1500 block of S. Morgan St., which is starting to become surrounded by rehab and new residential development.

"We have outgrown our current space, and this move will allow us to increase our capacity, do more business, serve more Chicagoans, and create more jobs," says Tim Fleming, executive vice president of Strube Celery and Vegetable Co.

The 19 vendors at the current market will be able to modernize their operations in the state-of-the-art facility, officials say. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next month, with completion expected in late 2002.

CenterPoint, the largest industrial property company in the Chicago market, will work with produce companies on necessary build-outs, and the new market will have better access, parking and loading areas the current South Water Market lacks. Besides warehouse and distribution space, the new facility will include 36 condominium spaces averaging about 12,000 sf, plus parking for 128 trucks and 317 cars.

The development keeps at least 428 jobs in Chicago, city officials say. "When a tourist or conventioneer has a great meal at a fine Chicago restaurant, chances are some of the ingredients came from right here at the South Water Market," says Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The development also will not be the last for the near Southwest Side neighborhood. "This will be the first of many new industrial development projects in the area, and it will serve as a new anchor for the vital Pilsen Industrial Corridor," Daley says.

CenterPoint's projects have included O'Hare Express, the only privately developed industrial park inside O'Hare International Airport.

"Without the support of the City of Chicago, this project could not have happened," says CenterPoint CEO Mike Mullen. "Once the first phase has been completed and is operating successfully, we anticipate additional produce vendors will want to move to the new market, creating the need for another phase of the project."