City Council approves Greater Chicago Food Depository expansion

The City Council has approved plans to expand the existing Greater Chicago Food Depository building at 4100 W. Ann Lurie Pl. Located in Archer Heights, the existing facility sits on an 880,00 square-foot site that spans from W. 40th St down to W. Ann Lurie Pl. along S. Keeler Ave. As part of the project, the organization will acquire the parking lot across the street and vacate S. Keeler Ave. 

As a non-profit organization fighting hunger since 1978, the Greater Chicago Food Depository has been headquartered at the location since 2004. The current 268,000 square-foot building holds administration space, volunteer programming space, training areas, a warehouse, and a distribution space. Currently the facility needs more cold storage capacity and increased meal prep space.

With Partners by Design as the architect behind the project, the new expansion and addition will add 36,700 square feet of space that will create a new meal prep facility as well as a new lobby and administrative space. The new facade will be made up mostly of precast concrete panels, while the new entry will be clad with a glass curtain wall. Panelized wood cladding with backlit signage for the organization will help to announce the new entry point.

As part of the project, the newly expanded site will allow for 224 new parking spaces, bringing the total car parking spaces to 337 spots. S. Keeler Ave is vacated but will become an inner roadway for truck traffic that comes off of W. 40th St. Site detention spaces will be located at the northwest and south ends of the site, while an open green space will be left for a potential urban farm envisioned for the future.  

With City Council approval, the development has now received a full greenlight from the city and can proceed with work on-site. According to a recent Chicago Sun-Times article, the facility is planning to be fully operational by late 2023.