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Chicago Market Co-Op Takes Step Forward with Signed Loan Proposal

  • Writer: Bob Benenson
    Bob Benenson
  • 2 minutes ago
  • 2 min read

Effort to Bring Good Food and Energy to Uptown Community Has Faced Bumpy Road



It is not easy to open a startup grocery store, and in Illinois, it is even harder — for a variety of reasons — to launch a new food co-op.


The number of such groceries in the state is rather sparse compared to places, including neighboring Wisconsin, that have historically had stronger co-op cultures. Wild Onion (Chicago), FoodShed (Woodstock) and Prairie (Lombard), the three co-ops that opened in northern Illinois over the past couple of years, all needed more than 10 years to come to fruition.


That has also the case for Chicago Market, which has journeyed a 13-year labyrinthine path toward buildout in a historic building under the Wilson El station in the Uptown community on the North Side. Its latest setback was a permitting process that went on so long that the intrepid leaders of the project had to replenish their fundraising.


That's why any good news is a reason to raise a glass. The Chicago Market team on Wednesday made an e-mail announcement to the project's shareholding "owners" that they have signed their bank's Loan Proposal document:


We know we've been quiet lately but rest assured the Board has been hard at work filling a funding gap and advancing the lending package with our primary lender. Financing for this project is complicated and takes time.


This week we hit an administrative milestone with our bank — we have signed their Loan Proposal document. This is not a final loan document, but it does lay out the terms of the lending, which we are in agreement with.


There are more steps to come with them, including their underwriting due diligence, before we close on the lending and have funds available to begin construction of our store. But signing this is a key step in the process. 


We also are busy advancing the process with the City for our grant funding. We have their document checklist in hand and are delivering the things they need. Their law department is now drawing up the Redevelopment Agreement (RDA) which we'll review, edit, and then sign the day the City and our primary lender both "close."


We think about our Owners and community every day, and it drives us forward as we do the work to fund our store. 


Congratulations to the team on this step forward from one of their patiently waiting 10+ year owners.


 

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