Pritzker Traubert Foundation announces recipient of the Chicago Prize

CHICAGO, Aug. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Always Growing, Auburn Gresham has been awarded the first ever Chicago Prize, a $10 million grant competition of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation that sought to invest in collaborative initiatives using physical development to spur economic activity, strengthen civic infrastructure, and improve the safety, well-being, and economic mobility of residents in the city's South and/or West sides.

Also, the Foundation announced an additional commitment of $2.5 million in development funds accessible to the other finalist teams from Austin, Englewood, Little Village North Lawndale and South Chicago. This brings its total investment in the Chicago Prize teams to more than $13 million since the competition launched in April 2019.

Always Growing, Auburn Gresham is a collaborative of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, Urban Growers Collective and Green Era Partners, led by Carlos Nelson, Erika Allen and Jason Feldman, respectively. Their initiative was selected for the Chicago Prize because of its unique combination of proposed projects that have the potential to create long-term economic opportunity, including the creation of 300 construction and 300 permanent professional jobs, and a greenhouse space expected to grow 14,000 – 26,000 pounds of food per year, while also meeting the immediate needs of residents.

"Our team has worked incredibly hard since the inception of this project to make this dream a reality for the Auburn Gresham community," said Nelson, who has led the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation since 2003. "The time and effort we have put into this project reflects the love we have for our community and the people who live here."

The Always Growing, Auburn Gresham project involves two physical sites:  a 1920s-era, terracotta building that will be converted into a Healthy Lifestyle Hub that will serve nearly 11,000 unique patients annually and feature many amenities; and a vacant brownfield, being developed into a renewable energy and urban farm campus, a for-profit enterprise.

"Auburn Gresham's submission is indicative of the innovative ideas and remarkable talent Chicago leaders have to offer and it represents the ideals of the Chicago Prize-- strong and dedicated local leadership, a plan with deep roots in the community, projects that respond to the needs of residents and set the stage for additional investment," said Bryan Traubert, co-founder and trustee of the foundation.  "Perhaps most exciting of all, the Auburn Gresham team has a unique initiative structure, which gives the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation a financial stake in the digestor enterprise and allows for a share of its profits to be distributed back to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood."

The Chicago Prize represents the single-largest investment in the project's total development budget of $52.8 million. In July, the City of Chicago committed $4 million of funding from the federal C.A.R.E.S. Act to the Healthy Hub as part of the City's Invest South/West initiative.

"Today is incredibly exciting, for me, for our city and for Auburn Gresham," said Penny Pritzker, co-founder and trustee of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.  "When we created the Chicago Prize, it was designed to provide flexible, private capital for neighborhoods whose potential has been restrained as a result of historic and present-day disinvestment. Over the past year, I've learned about many projects that are ready for investment and being led by dynamic teams. This project tops the list, and the spotlight we're shining on it today is well-earned. We're excited that our investment in Always Growing, Auburn Gresham will leverage public investments and has the potential to unlock additional private dollars for other important projects."

"Always Growing, Auburn Gresham is the kind of bold, innovative work, rooted in deep community partnerships that is needed to make our city more equitable and vibrant." said Penny Pritzker. "Chicago is our home and we are deeply committed to doing all we can to help strengthen the economic future for more of our residents, so that all our communities thrive.  We look forward to continuing to work with both public and private partners to support South and West side leaders whose bold ideas will positively impact their communities and uplift the quality of life for everyone in Chicago."

The Chicago Prize was developed by the Pritzker Traubert Foundation with support from Lever for Change, a new affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Other Chicago Prize advisors include: BCG's Center for Illinois' Future; Urban Institute; SB Friedman; DLA Piper; Mt Auburn Associates; IFF;  Bridgespan Group; Michael Fassnacht and FCB; Commissioner Maurice Cox and the Invest South/West team of the Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development.

Chicago Prize launched in April 2019. Twenty entrants received top recognition by a review panel of subject-matter experts. Of those, 14 teams received a $10,000 award to recognize their collaborative work and six were named Chicago Prize finalists and each given $100,000 grants to support their ongoing project planning and preparation of final proposals for the selection committee.

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SOURCE Pritzker Traubert Foundation

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