February 2011

Sustainable, small-to-medium-size businesses in need of flexible industrial and/or office space can lease an affordable, visible location at the new ReBuilding Exchange Annex & Incubator. The facility, located at the corner of Ashland and Webster avenues in Chicago's Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood, is being managed by the Delta Redevelopment Institute (Delta REDI) and will offer like-minded tenants special benefits with their rent.

"We're especially interested in companies that deal with recycled materials or have a similar customer base as the ReBuilding Exchange, which is a strong anchor tenant," says Elise Zelechowski, Associate Director at REDI. "That way, we can work together on joint events, marketing materials, and promotion."

The ReBuilding Exchange (RX) is moving to 2160 N. Ashland Avenue on the corner of Webster Avenue later this month and will open for business on March 1. The new RX is double the size of the original, offering expanded inventory, job training, and educational opportunities - an expansion resulting from the organization's remarkable growth and success over the last two years. Don't miss the Grand Opening Fundraiser there on March 12 from 6-10 p.m.

Making gas guzzling Recreational Vehicles greener might seem impossible, but the Delta Redevelopment Institute is working with planners in Elkhart County, Indiana, to do just that. In 2010 Delta helped the hard-hit region develop plans for leveraging its base in RV manufacturing to develop new green industries and jobs. As a result, Genesis Products has agreed to pay for nursery stock that will develop a local source of light plywood that it is currently being imported from overseas and at the same time improve the environmental condition of 5 acres of vacant brownfield land.The plan is to plant 6,500 poplar trees in May that will both remediate the land as well as provide a lightweight, renewable raw material for the nearby RV manufacturing base.

Most brownfield professionals know that cleaning up a contaminated site for redevelopment makes economic sense, but many don't recognize the benefits of cleaning up in a "greener" or more environmentally sensitive way. That's why Delta developed and published two state-specific "Quick Guides to Greener Cleanups" that provide basic information about greener remediation strategies that can be incorporated throughout all stages of land revitalization. Guides are available online.