CNI Brag Book 2020

Pullman:
A Design for Community
Development and Impact

PULLMAN,
the historic community built in the 1880s by Pullman’s
Palace Car Company, is widely recognized as one of the
nation’s first planned industrial communities. And
because of its Romanesque architecture, also one of its
most beautiful. Now visitors to the neighborhood’s house
tours and the designated Pullman Monument marvel at
the community’s vitality, but this wasn’t always the case.
Rather than spinning another tale of an industrial town
ravaged by neglect and abandonment, Pullman presents
a remarkable story of resilience and recovery.
Pullman was a thriving community throughout much of
the 20 th Century fueled by the rail car and steel
industries. The exodus of industry from the Pullman yard
shutdown in the 1960s through the closing of Ryerson
Steel in 2006 left the community with a loss of jobs and
population and a growing abundance of vacant land,
abandoned historic buildings and soaring unemployment
and crime rates.
While the pundits and the public wrote off Pullman as
just another victim of a changing global economy, there
existed strong local forces that saw potential in the
attributes that others neglected – an unparalleled
location where the nation’s rail, roads and waterways

connect; vast tracts of contiguous, available land; 98% of
its original housing stock which, despite being distressed,
was well-designed and well-built; and a strong grassroots
movement that forged support with local
institutions and elected leaders and were committed
and passionate about revitalizing Pullman.
What was needed to transform hope and dreams into a
strategy and success was a community development
partner. Such a partner was founded in 2008 when a
local bank saw the potential of which others spoke and
created an affiliated nonprofit community development
organization – one that eventually became Chicago
Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI).
From the 10 th floor window of the building it occupied,
the fledgling community development organization
could see first-hand the acres of vacant land and
buildings that exemplified the challenge. The defining
question was: “where to begin – by promoting the sale
of the 180-acre site adjacent, or addressing the latest
addition of abandoned homes caused by the recession in
2008, or salvaging the crumbling infrastructure of the old
Pullman Factory?”
CNI began its work in Pullman by listening – convening
an extensive community planning process, involving a
myriad of grass-roots block clubs and organizations,
facilitating 80 community meetings and a host of
planning workshops. From this process evolved these
key themes: job creation and retail access; affordable
housing; and recreation and tourism.
While this list of priorities could resonate in many of
Chicago’s or the nation’s under-invested communities,
the next question for CNI was how to begin to tackle the
varied objectives? The strategy soon became apparent
during the planning process, and CNI took the lead on
the integrated and intersecting need for housing renewal,
increasing employment opportunities and recreational
amenities.

OUR IMPACT
The impact of CNI’s efforts can be measured by
looking at what has been produced in terms of
generating investments, creating new developments
and other opportunities that have improved the
quality of life.
CNI’s commitment and resources have
turned $132 million of its own coordinated
investment, including over $125 million from U.S.
Bank, into more than $350 million of
additional public and private investments that have
created 1,500 new jobs.
However, there is more to Pullman’s story than job
creation. It has also:
And CNI’s commitment and achievements in
the Pullman community were recognized
when it was presented with several prestigious
awards:
| The John Baird Award for Stewardship in
Historic Preservation in 2015 for the restoration
of Pullman’s historic rowhomes.
| The Chicago Community Trust Award for
Outstanding Community Strategy in 2015
| The Burnham Award for Excellence in Planning
from the Metropolitan Planning Council in 2016
| The Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago’s
Gale Cincotta Community Impact Award in 2019
| The Chicago Innovation Neighborhood Award in 2019
Pullman

+
CREATED
200+ new units of single-, and multi-family
affordable housing
over 1.5 million square-feet of commercial,
industrial and recreational space
INCREASED
number of jobs in the community by
43% between 2010 and 2015
l
number of six-figure households by 58%
number of college graduates by
nearly 10% between 2006 and 2015
property values 136%; Pullman
experienced the second highest level of home
appreciation among all Chicago neighborhoods
average annual rate of new construction
is 20x higher than it was prior to CNI’s work
l
DECREASED
violent crime 52% from 2005 to 2015
(Chicago Tribune)
violent crime 34% from 2015 to 2017
(MPC); the area within most of CNI’s investment
has not experienced a single homicide since 2014

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Darris Lee Harris
JOB
CREATION &
RETAIL
ACCESS
Following the significant exodus of resident and worker
population from the steel industry closings, CNI
understood that creating new jobs was the only option
to bring people back to Pullman. So CNI turned its
attention to attracting new businesses to generate new
jobs. Using the resources on hand, and through the
extraordinary united efforts of community organizations,
government agencies and local elected officials, CNI and
the City of Chicago secured the first national retail-based
shopping center on the city’s South East Side.
In 2012, with an initial $5 million grant from the State of
Illinois for infrastructure work on the former site of Ryerson
Steel, CNI broke ground for Pullman Park, a $125 million
mixed-use site at 111 th Street and I-94 anchored by a 150,000
square-foot Walmart Supercenter. As a result of a
Community Benefits Agreement, employees earned higher
wages as compared with other Walmart workers nationwide.
When the Walmart opened in 2014, it was the first and
only store in the area to provide access to quality foods.
Soon it was accompanied by a Ross Dress for Less,
Planet Fitness and an Advocate urgent care clinic. Having
secured additional public transportation routes to better
serve the area, the bustling Pullman Park shopping center
today provides the community not only with goods and
services, but with nearly 700 jobs.
Darris Lee Harris
Three years later, CNI developed another retail center –
the 111 th Street Gateway, at the entry to the Pullman

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National Monument site, bringing a Potbelly’s Sandwich
Shop with a drive-thru and a minority-owned Star Dry
Cleaners. And in 2019, the first Food Hall on the city’s Far South
Side opened within the retail center. Today, the One Eleven
Food Hall features three locally owned restaurants, thanks in
part to a $1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase that helped
CNI’s Micro Finance Group (CNIMFG) make microloans to
entrepreneurs in under-resourced communities.
“All the new retail, housing and cultural amenities signal
Pullman is once again becoming a major destination for
families, businesses and visitors,” said Senator Richard Durbin.
Darris Lee Harris
While focusing on attracting retailers to Pullman Park,
which fronts the expressway and offers unparalleled
visibility along the eastern most portion of the former
Ryerson site, CNI had equally ambitious plans for the
west – attracting new businesses for which the rail, road
and water connections would be important assets.
The hard work and strategy paid off. The first company to
locate just west of Pullman Park was Method Home
Products in 2014, one of the world’s leading makers of
environmentally friendly cleaning supplies. It was here
that the company built its first U.S. based plant, a $30
million, 150,000 square-foot manufacturing and
distribution center at 720 East 111 th Street, in a building
that gets almost half of its power from renewable energy
created by a giant wind turbine and solar panels.
“We reviewed more than 100 sites from across the country
but Pullman’s access to transportation and a skilled
workforce were the leading factors in our decision to move
there,” said Method Products Chairman Jonathon Bond.
Gotham Greens
Joining them was another newcomer to Chicago,
Gotham Greens, a pioneer in indoor greenhouse agriculture
and a leading fresh produce and food company which
built the world’s largest commercial rooftop greenhouse
atop the Method plant in 2015. And in the Fall of 2019,
Gotham Greens doubled-down on Pullman and opened
a new 100,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse.
The expansion enables Gotham Greens to deliver a year-

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ound supply of fresh produce to consumers to keep up with
the increasing demand from retail, restaurant and foodservice
customers from across the Midwest. The new greenhouse,
the largest-ever built in Chicago, more than doubles the
company’s local production to 11 million heads of lettuce
annually and doubled its total workforce to more than 100
full-time employees at the two local greenhouses.
“Agriculture is a vital component of our state’s economy,
and I’m pleased to see opportunities for urban
agriculture- like this greenhouse expansion in Pullman,”
said Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Darris Lee Harris
Additional excitement is taking place near the new
Gotham greenhouse where the largest speculative
building is being constructed in the Lake Calumet region
as part of Pullman Crossings, the new 62-acre industrial
park taking shape in Pullman developed by Ryan
Companies and CNI. An investment by Allstate in the new
400,000 square-foot warehouse, being built on vacant
land once part of the former Ryerson Steel site, made it
the first Opportunity Zone investment in the area. It is
expected to be completed in 2020.
Much of the momentum for these projects was sparked in
2018 when Whole Foods opened its new Midwest
Distribution Center. The 150,000 square-foot distribution
center occupying 17 acres of once-vacant land, allows
Whole Foods to join two major suppliers, Method and
Gotham Greens in the Pullman neighborhood. It serves
more than 70 Whole Foods’ locations across the Midwest
and parts of Canada and its 90 employees earn an average
of $42,000 a year. To attract Whole Foods to its new
location and ensure the site was competitive, CNI helped
secure $8.4 million in TIF assistance from the City of
Chicago to pay for site preparation costs, including
grading, demolition, and utility installation. The new
Pullman location provides a building double the size of its
former facility in Indiana.
These new manufacturing and distribution entities created
another 400 jobs, making Pullman one of the fastest- and
biggest-growing employment sites in all of Chicago.

AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
While the southern part of the community with its historic
church and parks had long seen stable ownership and a
thriving community life, the northern half of Pullman,
closer to the original Pullman Factory complex was a
different story with failing rental housing amid a sea of
abandoned buildings.
CNI began by investing $5 million in the preservation and
renovation of dozens of Pullman’s historic rowhouses for
sale or rent, through its partnership in the Micro Market
Recovery Program with the Neighborhood Housing
Services of Chicago and the City of Chicago. This
neighborhood stabilization initiative provided resources
to renovate and purchase homes in Pullman, in addition
to helping existing homeowners prevent foreclosure.
CNI worked to bring Mercy Housing to the community to
take over the Pullman Wheelworks – a mammoth 200
apartment rental complex that had fallen into severe
disrepair and disrepute. CNI’s efforts generated a $15
million investment by Mercy Housing that not only vastly
improved the structure but also stabilized the immediate
area, encouraging additional investment like Butler
College Prep, a Noble Charter School, and further
renewal in the community.
Another additional investment came in the form of a new
housing opportunity, one that is making Pullam the
choice for young creative minds – Artspace Lofts, an
innovative work/live space featuring 38 rental apartments
and community space for art fairs and exhibits. CNI
helped finance the project, securing a mix of grants,
Historic Tax Credits and Low-Income Housing Tax
Credits. Once construction of the new Artspace Lofts is
completed in early 2020, and its two adjacent historic
buildings are restored, it will be Pullman’s first new
residential construction in approximately 50 years.

RECREATION
& TOURISM
A 20 year-long dream comes to fruition. After being
urged by national and local leaders, preservation groups,
members of the community and other key stakeholders,
President Obama designated a portion of the Pullman
Historic District as part of the National Park System in 2015.
This included the historic clock tower and administration
building at 111 th Street and Cottage Grove where CNI and
the National Park Services (NPS) have launched a $35
million renovation project. Once construction is completed,
the clock tower will be transformed into the new Visitor
Center for the Pullman National Monument site, which is
expected to attract more than 300,000 visitors annually.
“The new Center will introduce visitors to Pullman’s rich
history and will encourage people to explore the community
and visit other local historic sites, including the National
A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum and the Historic
Pullman Foundation Visitor Center,” says Phil Lawrence,
Acting Superintendent of the Pullman National Monument.
Thanks to the commitment and efforts of community
members and elected officials, another of Pullman’s
valuable assets are its public schools, like the Edgar Allen
Poe Elementary School and Gwendolyn Brooks College
Prep, among the best performing schools in the city and
state. And Chicago’s Olive-Harvey College is home to a
new $45 million transportation-training center.
In 2017, the academic performance of students from Poe
earned the first-ever National Blue-Ribbon Award for a
CPS elementary school on the city’s South Side. It was
one of only 16 public schools in Illinois and 342 schools
nationwide to be honored with this distinction.
In late 2018, CNI’s development of what Chicago Cubs
Chairman Tom Ricketts described as, “the most substantial
community athletic project of its kind,” opened – the

Pullman Community Center (PCC). The $20 million, 135,000
square-foot PCC at 104 th and Woodlawn Avenue is providing
a safe, fun, nurturing environment for Pullman’s young people
and young at heart, and the surrounding communities.
Privately funded by a dozen of Chicago’s leading civic
and business organizations and professional sports teams,
the PCC, the new Midwest headquarters for the AAU and
Chicago Youth Alliance, is the largest year-round sports
and educational programming facility in the region. More
than 1,100 participants and visitors each week are using
its indoor playing fields and hardwood courts as well as
taking advantage of its flexible space for special events,
exhibitions, classrooms, camps and tournaments.
In less than a year, $7 million in college athletic
scholarships were awarded to local students who
performed at combines and tournaments that were hosted
at the PCC. In addition to the scholarships, the PCC created
approximately 100 full- and part-time jobs, including new
employees from CNI’s partnership with Chicago Creating
Real Economic Destiny (CRED), a workforce development
program for at-risk neighborhood youths. Programming is
coordinated by the Roseland Youth Center.
“Thanks to our private and public partners and members
of the community, we’ve created a place where people
of all ages, skills and interests can come together to
learn, have fun, and prepare for the future in a safe
place,” said 9 th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale.
Another safe place in Pullman was recently created when
a truce between gangs led to the transformation of a
neglected block into a new playground for children on
South Corliss Avenue.
“When I asked the young men what they wanted in return
for a truce, they said they wanted a park for their kids – it
was incredibly powerful,” said Arne Duncan, CRED, and
former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
Now that the playground is completed, CRED has hired
the young men to maintain the park.

BEYOND
PULLMAN
In Pullman, CNI created a model – comprehensive
community development, involving simultaneous efforts
in housing, economic development and civic amenities.
It is a strategy with which CNI, in partnership with other
grass-root organizations and community leaders, is
working to implement to help transform other Chicago
neighborhoods.
In Bronzeville, CNI works with Farpoint Development,
Draper & Kramer and the Bronzeville Community
Development Partnership among others, on one of the
largest redevelopment projects in the city – Burnham
Lakefront – the former Michael Reese Hospital site which
is one of several locations in Chicago that’s vying to
become a new entertainment destination featuring a
Chicago casino.
Also in Bronzeville, CNI, the Chicago Housing Authority
and the City of Chicago delivered a new 75,000 squarefoot
Mariano’s Grocery Store at 3857 South Martin
Luther King Drive that opened in 2016 and created 400
jobs with 95 positions for CHA residents. CNI and its
development partners awarded 40% of all construction
contracts to minority and women owned firms. The
Mariano’s brought a full-service grocery store to a
longtime food desert and features more than 50 different
locally made products by Chicago food companies.

CNIMFG
Another important vehicle for fueling the growth of new
opportunities has been CNI’s Micro Finance Group
(CNIMFG), a nonprofit microlender and certified CDFI. By
making microloans of up to $100,000 to entrepreneurs
and individuals, CNIMFG has deployed nearly $3 million
in capital to fuel the growth of more than 120 minorityowned
small businesses in under-resourced and
disinvested neighborhoods throughout the Chicago area.
In Pullman alone, CNIMFG has deployed eight
microloans totaling $120,000 to catering, engineering,
delivery and retail businesses. CNIMFG’s loan to the
Pullman Cafe brought the first sit-down restaurant to the
Pullman historic district in over 20 years. The Cafe
provides a great spot for residents and tourists to enjoy a
cup of coffee or a salad featuring Gotham Greens’
lettuce or the Cafe’s famous warm lemon bar. CNIMFG
also collaborated with CNI to provide a loan to fund
construction of the 111 th Street Gateway retail at the entry
to Pullman National Monument.
Pullman embodies the remarkable public and private
collaboration, innovation and creativity that it takes to
increase equity and attract new jobs and investments
that can catalyze the revitalization of under-resourced
neighborhoods, even Midwest industrial towns. A close
look at CNI, Pullman and other urban areas demonstrates
what can be accomplished when individuals,
government agencies, business leaders, civic
organizations and philanthropists work together, while
encouraged to create and achieve a shared vision.

CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES
773.341.2070 | www.cnigroup.org
Credit: Gotham Greens and Robo Aerial