Hilco Redevelopment Partners, a unit of Hilco Global, announced today the purchase and acquisition of the Crawford Power Generating Station site from NRG Energy in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. The Crawford site operated as a coal-fired power plant from 1925 until its decommissioning in 2012. Hilco Redevelopment Partners, based in suburban Northbrook, will undertake comprehensive remediation of the industrial site before proceeding with redevelopment. NRG Energy selected Hilco after an extensive process to sell the property.
“A true hallmark of Hilco’s mission is to return economic opportunity to industrial sites that have run their useful life,” said Roberto Perez, managing partner, president, Hilco Redevelopment Partners. “We see the Crawford site as a transformational opportunity to take 70 acres of urban infill industrial land from an obsolete facility and eyesore to a modern and robust economic engine in the neighborhood. This location and current zoning classification offers great potential to serve as a last-mile distribution and logistics facility given its proximity to such a significant population center.”
Remediation will take anywhere from 14 to 24 months, depending on site conditions. The plan is to begin demolition after the site has been safely abated of any potentially hazardous materials that may present environmental concerns to the community, city or regulators. During this time, Hilco Redevelopment Partners will be in regular communication with community leaders and residents on the project’s progress while also creating a redevelopment plan for the highest and best use of the property. The company has launched a website to share updates and information at www.crawfordstation.com.
“This is an exciting development for the Little Village community,” said 22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo Munoz. “The Hilco Redevelopment team understands that we have a terrific labor pool that can support the type of ‘new economy’ businesses that they expect to attract to the site. This will be a terrific boost to the economy in Little Village and throughout Chicago.”
Hilco Redevelopment Partners is a unit of holding company Hilco Global, with offices in Northbrook and Chicago. Hilco brings a wealth of relevant experience to the 70-acre Crawford site, having managed numerous remediation, recycling and redevelopment projects with similar highly complex brownfield sites. One example is Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre site just outside of Baltimore, MD. Beginning in 2012, Hilco Redevelopment Partners decommissioned and remediated the site, the former home of Bethlehem Steel, before redeveloping it into the largest tri-modal logistics hub on the eastern seaboard. Following the remediation and demolition, Hilco Redevelopment Partners has signed long-term leases and has built or will be building logistics facilities for FedEx Ground, Amazon and Under Armour, with more to be announced this year.
“The acquisition of Crawford is a significant addition to our growing portfolio of commercial and industrial real estate across North America,” said Hilco Global chairman and CEO Jeffery Hecktman. “Over the course of the past several years we have been successfully acquiring and redeveloping obsolete properties in cities across the country, bringing new economic life to these urban areas in need of revitalization and opportunity.”
