240 N. Avenida Ashland.
Advanced production incubator mHub is about to move its operations to the commercial floor west of Fulton’s market district, where it struck a deal to buy a building, on the condition it can get taxpayers to build it.
The five-year-old nonprofit has a contract to pay more than $32 million for the vacant 80,000-square-foot structure at 240 N. Ashland Ave. , where it would move from the assets to 965 W. Chicago Ave. in River West that he has called home since its launch in 2017, according to other people familiar with the deal. MHub is expected to appear before the city’s Community Development Commission next week as it seeks tax structure to fund its move and the structure of its new space. although the main points of the plan were not available.
If the sale goes ahead, mHub will showcase the skyrocketing asset values on the Near West Side over the past decade and further identify Fulton Market’s dominance west as a hotbed of soft commercial business. The planned production district, officially dubbed the Kinzie Industrial Corridor: has long been populated by breweries, florists, caterers, food wholesalers and other businesses operating in old low-floor buildings. It also houses a production-focused incubator at the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago. , which leases more than 400,000 square feet to commercial contractors just 4 blocks west of where mHub plans to plant its flag.
MHub, which is advertised as a manufacturing-focused edition of the 1871 Chicago technology incubator, is expected to acquire the neighborhood profile as major Fulton market growth projects head there. this year, a block south of the assets mHub is about to buy.
Meanwhile, MHub’s departure from his rental home would highlight River West’s ongoing transformation from a traditionally commercial pocket of the city to a more gentrified one. A number of giant apartment projects and a new Bally’s casino and entertainment complex are on track to turn the complexion of the incubator’s curhire landscape and make it more expensive to rent an asset there.
Incubator and Mayor Lori Lightfoot may face scrutiny over the use of the TIF budget for the deal, money that is historically earmarked to fight degraded domains. 23 years, with income destined for projects that would not be developed again without the assistance of TIF.
A spokesperson for Lightfoot was quick to comment on the TIF grant proposal. But the city can emphasize the importance of mHub as a launching pad for startups to expand in Chicago, helping to reduce costs and other barriers to physical product innovation for startups.
Alumni come with Hologram, a communications hardware startup that raised $65 million last year; NuCurrent, which developed wireless charging technology; and Sabanto, an independent agricultural tech startup that recently raised $17 million.
A spokeswoman for mHub declined to comment.
MHub reported just under $4. 3 million in profits in 2019, according to a tax filing. 2013, set to expire next year, according to other people familiar with the deal. The construction is owned by a Northbrook-based investor William Lewellen’s company, according to Cook County asset records.
MHub’s acquisition of the Ashland Building would repair the nearly century-old assets to their former commercial use. Cameron Can Company. Buildings that once housed heavy equipment are well suited to the types of jobs done by mHub users. Unlike other startup incubators, one of mHub’s main promotion issues is that it provides expensive and specialized equipment for production-focused startups.
The sale would complete a lucrative retirement for West Loop real estate investor Phil Denny, whose assets Peppercorn Capital bought in 2013 for $13 million, according to Cook County real estate records. The building served as offices for the CB2 Crate department of stores.
BOX
The COVID-19 pandemic hampered this leasing effort, but Fulton Market’s continued expansion and ongoing new apartment advancements increasingly increased the price of the building, ultimately allowing Denny to close a deal that brought his business a huge monetary gain.
A spokeswoman for Peppercorn Capital had no comment.
MHub has grown over the years, from offering mentorship and workspace to launching its own $15 million venture capital fund for hardware technology startups. Among the fund’s investors are Sam Zell and Madison Dearborn executive Jim Perry.
John Pletz de Crain contributed.
Contact Us/Help Center