Chicago City Wire

Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ (HRP) hosted a community update April 27 as progress continues on the Lawndale Fleet Storage Yard in Little Village.

The Exchange55 Target Flow Center and Lawndale fleet yard have revitalized the former Crawford coal-fired power plant site and adjacent industrial facility into a sustainable logistics hub, creating thousands of well-paying jobs. The Lawndale Fleet Storage Yard is currently in its final construction phase, marking the completion of Hilco Redevelopment Partners' sustainable campus in Little Village, according to Chicago City Wire.

"Currently, we’re in the finishing stages of construction, so the guard house, the office building, the maintenance building are all well underway, and then the parking lot is currently being built," Nick Pullara, VP of development and head of Midwest Region, said during the meeting. "A curb is going in, sight lighting, landscape areas are starting to take shape. And then we’ll focus on updating landscaping, the finishing touches here, over the next couple of months as we look to complete the project in Q3 of this year."

According to Chicago City Wire, the earth retention system has been installed, and after paving, extensive landscaping, including the planting of nearly 500 native trees, will begin. The project is part of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Voluntary Site Remediation Program (SRP) and is on track to receive a “no further remediation” determination. HRP also announced the launch of their annual community-centric internship and scholarship programs, while highlighting the project's commitment to hiring union labor and commitment to truck traffic reduction on Pulaski Road and Lawndale Avenue.

The Exchange55 and Lawndale Fleet Storage Yard are built on the 70-acre site of the former Crawford coal-fired power plant and an adjacent 20-acre parcel in Chicago's Southwest side. The Crawford station was closed in 2012 due to environmental concerns, and in 2017, Hilco Redevelopment Partners purchased the site and has since transformed it into the state-of-the-art logistics facility Exchange55, which was leased to Target in 2019, the project website said.

While many members of the community have expressed concerns over the potential for truck traffic in the area, Pullara said they have plans in place to combat this. Among these, the "no-idling" plan is set to offer a series of signage on site that indicates that trucks should turn their engines off when they are on site. Developers have also added "no-turn" signs at the entrance to the site and the access road between the flow center and the fleet storage yard as another level of indication that trucks should not go north on Lawndale Avenue and into the community. 

Pullara said there are two primary routes for vehicles to get to and from the fleet storage yard, including one north on Pulaski Avenue to James O'Connor Road, from James O'Connor Road east to the access road and from the access road onto the fleet storage yard property, and another through the flow center to the access road and then over to the fleet storage yard.

"Prior to this project commencing, there was a commitment made that no trucks will go north on Pulaski Road or Lawndale Avenue," Pullara said. "In addition to that, we have elected to add some more signage to that access road and James O'Connor Road that is specifically speaking to the truck drivers to exit to Interstate 55, and then when they're inbound or coming to the site, they're following the signage that says the 3305 South Lawndale Ave. truck entrance and giving them clear direction as to where to go and what route to follow."

Compared to the prior use of the site, he said, operations will be more orderly than prior on the site with a 30% reduction in traffic or truck volume, shifting from roughly 700 movements per day to around 400-450 trucks coming to and from the site on any given day under the new acquisition. It will also add roughly four acres of green space to the property, including nearly 500 trees and several hundred shrubs, and a full pavement laid down to help with air quality in the area.

According to Pullara, in addition to about 100 union jobs created by the project and roughly 700 created by the Exchange 55 project, the fleet yard development has done a great deal of engagement with women and minority-owned businesses to bring them into this project.