Growing Home plans $25 million expansion

Local urban farm and workforce development nonprofit Growing Home is planning a $25 million expansion of their campus to increase access to fresh food, boost employment opportunities, and revitalize vacant land around their current facility in Englewood. Growing Home has operated the organic farm near 58th and Wood streets since 2009 and the neighboring Honore farm since 2011.

Designed by UrbanWorks, the multi-million-dollar investment would increase the size of the non-profit’s farm, advance food production, and create more job training opportunities. The campus would occupy the currently vacant land at the corner of S. Wood St and W. 59th St that was donated to the organization.

An approximately 30,000-square-foot building will house an organic produce processing facility, storefront, technology resource center, teaching kitchen, retail cafe, workforce development classrooms, commercial kitchen and office spaces. A 26,000-square-foot outdoor growing space will have a farm where neighbors can harvest their own crops.

With an expanded processing facility three times the size of the current one, the project will include walk-in refrigeration, cold storage units, and open work areas giving them the space to store and process more food rather than wasting it.

The organization also offers paid job-training opportunities and IT certification programs that help people earn more than a minimum wage with or without a college degree. The Englewood campus will have workforce development classrooms, community gathering spaces and a technology resource center. The nonprofit will use the space to double enrollment in the paid training program, which currently sits at about 80 people annually.

To cover the $25 million project, Growing Home has been fundraising and has committed $13 million to the project. The city awarded a $5 million Housing and Economic Development bond to support the project in June. The nonprofit is aiming to break ground by next spring and open by Spring 2026.