Hilco secures financing for massive power plant redevelopment

Hilco Redevelopment Partners is moving forward with the conversion of the shuttered Crawford Power Plant into a sprawling industrial complex after landing financing for the project.

Northbrook-based Hilco secured a $153 million construction loan from Los Angeles-based Pacific Coast Capital Partners for the redevelopment of the power plant at 3501 South Pulaski Road, Cook County property records show.

Advertised as “Exchange 55,” Hilco is planning to turn the power plant site into a 1 million-square-foot spec warehouse. The 52-foot-tall building will be designed to accommodate e-commerce operators for “last-mile” distribution, and would include 255 parking spaces and up to 188 truck loading births.

The project, when finished, will join a number of new projects on the Southwest Side of the city near the Interstate 55 corridor, one of the hottest submarkets in the booming Chicago industrial sector.

Hilco received approval for the project in late 2018. In March, the firm secured a $20 million tax break for the project, which has been estimated to cost $100 million.

A representative for Hilco did not immediately return a request for comment.

Hilco in 2017 spent $12 million to buy the plant, which was shut down in 2012 after years of pressure from environmentalists.

The firm is also working to turn another shuttered power plant, the Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen, into a massive data center.