The city recently welcomed ALSCO-American Linen to a $25.2-million, 150,000-sf laundry facility at 2641 S. Leavitt Ave., which replaced the company's plant in the River North area. The former plant at 225 W. Chestnut St. is making way for multifamily redevelopment.
The Pilsen Industrial Corridor, where both the city-owned lumber yard and ALSCO-American Linen's plant is located, has seen a 20% jump in employment over the past five years to 11,000 workers, according to the city. "The Pilsen Industrial Corridor is doing very, very well," says department of planning and development commissioner Alicia Berg. "There's a lot of wonderful activity going on in the Pilsen corridor."
Warehouses, storage facilities, retail or residential projects would not be considered wonderful for the 23rd Street site, according to Linda Mercado of the department of planning and development. The site is zoned M3-4, allowing for heavy manufacturing uses, she says.
The city acquired the property from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in 1997, and used a $1.2-million empowerment zone grant for environmental remediation of the property, Mercado says. Another 22 acres of vacant land is available to the west, she notes.
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