Pullman’s premier industrial park that has helped fuel the neighborhood’s economic revival is one step closer to completion.
A groundbreaking was held Tuesday for the third phase of Pullman Crossings, a 50-plus acre industrial park at 103rd Street and South Woodlawn Avenue. The park currently includes distribution centers for Amazon and Whole Foods, along with an SC Johnson warehouse as well as a Walmart, the Pullman Community Center and Advocate Health Care facility.
The park could also soon be home to another high-capacity company once the new building is completed in early 2025.
“We’ve been blessed with all the development and job creation here,” Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) said.
The 170,000-square-foot facility is a speculative build, meaning there’s no tenant secured yet, and will sit on 10 acres. Commercial real estate firm CBRE will handle leasing for the building.
The new speculative building will include outdoor eating areas, exterior bike racks and a 32-foot clearance height in the warehouse, according to developer Ryan Companies. It could accommodate warehousing and distribution, light manufacturing or several other light industrial uses when complete.
Class A buildings like those being developed at Pullman Crossings serve as a key part of the supply chain, said Peter Bury, senior vice president at Washington Capital.
“This is kind of the Swiss Army knife of buildings in our mind,” Bury said.
Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies has constructed buildings at Pullman Crossings since 2017. The fourth and final phase of the park is expected to break ground this year.
The park has created 600 jobs and transformed one of the largest undeveloped swaths of land in Chicago.
“Today marks moving forward from planning our vision to bringing it to reality,” said Kyle Schott, vice president of real estate development at Ryan Companies. “Our work and collaboration is not over, and we will continue to ensure this newest phase of development at Pullman matches or exceeds our previous successes.”
Development has been booming in Pullman for years, with the neighborhood serving as a framework for development in long-neglected communities.
Pullman Gateway, a new 8-acre mixed development that includes the South Side’s first Chick-fil-A and the CTA Red Line Extension office, broke ground in May. And Gotham Greens opened its largest greenhouse to date in 2019.
When development started in Pullman, crime was “really high and running rampant,” Beale said. Now, crime in the ward has dropped by more than 30%.
“Having a project like this is really breathtaking — to add more jobs and more opportunities to the community,” Beale said.
“This is how you turn the community around. This is how you reinvest in our great city to make sure that people want to stay here, live here, play here, and just really thrive and take part of what we’re trying to do here in the city of Chicago.”
