CHICAGO—Chicago has become one of the most powerful and active industrial markets in the nation, and developers now seek to open up new areas in order to satisfy demand. Ryan Companies US, Inc. and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives have begun work on Pullman Crossings, a new 50+-acre industrial park located at I-94 and 103rd St. in the city's historic Pullman community and on the largest undeveloped land site close to downtown. The partners say it can accommodate multiple industrial warehouse and distribution facilities totaling up to 1.2 million square feet and generate more than $100 million dollars of investment.

“Pullman Crossings will be a transformational project for the immediate area and the entire 9th Ward,” says Tim Hennelly, president of Ryan's Great Lakes Region. “We're creating a state-of-the-art industrial park within 20 minutes of Chicago's Loop to attract and accommodate large users, create jobs and be a part of the ongoing effort to revitalize Pullman.”

And Pullman Crossings is part of Pullman Park, a 180-acre, mixed use development by CNI. Ryan is also playing an important role in that effort. It started construction in March on a 140,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market distribution center on the new park's south end. The company has completed the site work and building shell, and started work on the interior build-out. Ryan plans to finish by January 2018. Along with Gotham Greens, another new user that occupies about 75,000 square feet in the neighborhood, the move by Whole Foods has begun to transform Pullman into one of the city's new food distribution centers.