CHICAGO—As reported in GlobeSt.com yesterday, 4KDiversey Partners, LLC just convinced the ChicagoCity Council to approve its plan to transform the oldMarshall Field's distribution facility at 4000 W.Diversey Ave. on the Northwest Side into a mixed-use developmentwith offices, a grocery store and other retail. But PaulFishbein of Merit Partners, LLC, one ofthe 4K team, tells GlobeSt.com that “the most important categorygoing forward” is the 84 live/work units that will give therefurbished property a 24/7 vibe.

“Gens X and Y want to handle business and work much differentlythan they've been done in the past,” he says. The units will rangefrom 850- to 3,000-square-feet and unlike ordinary residentialleases, everyone occupying these spaces will also have the right tooperate a business with several employees. “We've had hugeinterest,” Fishbein adds, from people such as artisans or smallbusiness owners. The group has, for example, spoken to the owner ofa small marketing firm that wants to live in the building and havehis three employees work there.

“When you graduate from a co-working space or an incubator andbecome a two- to five-person business, where do you go?” Fishbeinasks. Previously, only artists were permitted to live in their workspaces, but a 2012 city ordinance expanded the types of businessescovered by the law. “We will be the first,” he says, to takeadvantage of the expanded definition. “It's in high demand, butthere is literally zero supply.”