The Hatchery

The Hatchery project involves the construction of a new 76,000 sq ft. micro-business food incubation center in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The Hatchery will be a single-story structure that will include private workspaces and food production quarters, common dry/cold storage areas, shipping docs and common kitchens for local start-ups and develop food companies alike. The Hatchery will provide rentable, culinary equipped units to 50-75 business tenants seeking shared space for food storage or high volume food prep. 

In total, the Hatchery aims to be an innovative space designed to facilitate entrepreneurs and small businesses' needs for food-grade, flexible space that minimizes expenditures. speeds time to market, and nurtures the fresh food needs of the socially diverse and economically challenged surrounding communities of near-west Chicago. The project's site, adjacent to the city's Kedzie Green-Line train stop, will further provide ready access to the Hatchery's amenities and will span accessibility for nearby neighborhood workforce. 

The project is a joint venture led by the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago ("ICNC") and ACCION Chicago. ICNC has been providing no-cost business development, advocacy and consulting services to disadvantaged, start-ups, and other challenged enterprises for over 50 years. ACCION specializes in micro-finance programs for local businesses offering capital solutions and one-on-one coaching for underserved entrepreneurs throughout Illinois. Together, these economic development focused organizations, will continue to provide ongoing business support for the project's tenants with ACCION also moving its headquarters on site. 

The project will be located at 3200 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL characterized by a 31.4% poverty rate, median income that is 40.85% of the area's median, and an unemployment rate 2.53 times the national average. The project will also alleviate the pressure of this USDA food desert by drawing fresh-food minded businesses to the area that look to stimulate wholesome food production to then be offered either onsite or through offsite neighborhood business channels.