Gotham Greens opens a second greenhouse in rapidly redeveloping Pullman

Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood just got greener.

This week, New York-based urban produce and food company Gotham Greens opened its second greenhouse on the Far South Side neighborhood. The 100,000 square-foot facility will be located in a section of the repurposed former Ryerson Steel site at 10636 S. Woodlawn Avenue.

Gotham Greens, which also owns greenhouses in Baltimore, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island, (and a forthcoming Denver location coming in 2020), opened its first Chicago location on the roof of the Method soap factory at 720 E. 111th Street in 2015.

This second Pullman greenhouse—the company’s largest nationwide—will more than double their local production of leafy greens to 11 million heads of lettuce annually and expand its Chicago workforce to 100.

Gotham Greens

“Agriculture is a vital component of our state’s economy and I’m pleased to see opportunities for urban agriculture—like this greenhouse expansion,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker in a statement.

Gotham Greens’ expansion is yet another sign of redevelopment in the once-sleepy historic neighborhood. In recent years, the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, a non-profit community development company, has helped attract industries to Pullman like a Whole Foods distribution center, soap maker Method, and businesses like the newly opened One Eleven Food Hall.

Meanwhile, the Pullman Artspace Lofts—a 38-unit artist housing development—is also opening this month.

“Thanks to the efforts of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, the community and the city over the past years, we’ve been able to garner investments of more than $400 million for new businesses like Gotham Greens’ two greenhouses, new homes, recreational facilities, schools and national monuments that signal Pullman’s renaissance,” said 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale.