Northbrook Developer Plans To Demolish Little Village Power Plant

NORTHBROOK, IL — The Chicago Plan Commission Thursday unanimously approved a plan from Northbrook-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners for a $100 million project on the site of the former Crawford Power Generating station over the objections of nearby residents on Chicago's Southwest Side, Block Club Chicago reported. Dubbed Exchange 55, the proposal for a 1.06-million-square-foot e-commerce distribution warehouse will head to the Zoning Committee before seeking approval from the full City Council.

The power plant has been shuttered since 2012, as owner Midwest Generation decided against investing in upgrades to meet federal requirements for air quality, the Chicago Tribune reported. Environmental and public health advocates had for years voiced concerns about the health effects of pollution from the coal-burning plan on the local population.

Hilco said its proposal, which has been endorsed by the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and 22nd Ward Ald. Ricardo Munoz, could bring 178 new jobs to the area. But local environmental justice activists warned the addition of hundreds of extra trucks would significantly worsen area quality, Block Club reported.

Munoz said a community benefit agreement would mean the facility would have solar panels on its roof and electric charging stations. The alderman said the benefits outweighed criticisms of the plan but was heckled during the at the Sept. 13 Plan Commission meeting by opponents of the development, according to Block Club. Some demonstrators were removed by security guards.

The plant opened in 1924 and was designed by architects from the firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. Preservation groups encouraged the developer to keep the building intact, the Chicago Tribune reported, but Hilco determined it was not structurally sound and needed to be demolished. Some elements from the plant may be reused, the developer told the paper.

Due to its architectural significance on the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, the plan should have been placed on a delay list. Local historic preservation advocate Eric Rogers told the architecture news site ArchPaper it was "baffling" how the city had handled the permitting for the Hilco project.

“Following the letter of the law halfway, the city added it to the Demolition Delay list. But then, inexplicably, the mandatory delay was waived, and the demolition permit was released," Rogers. "Sometimes this is done when unsafe conditions necessitate an emergency demolition, but there is no indication of that being the case with Crawford.”

Hilco Redevelopment Partners bought the 70-acre site in Little Village last December for $12.25 million, according to property records. It hopes to begin demolition this year and complete the project by 2020, according to Block Club. The Little Village location offers a strong labor force and the ability to be competitive for last mile logistics, Hilco's president told the Tribune.

“We believe if we build it, they will come," he said.

Last month, construction workers picketed in front of the power station, Hoy reported, saying Hilco's subcontractor was refusing to pay prevailing wages to workers removing asbestos. Representatives of Laborers Local 225 and the Little Village Environmental Organization said the company was bringing in workers from Puerto Rico and underpaying them.