City grants $5M for South Side educational development

A South Side development that could foster the next generation of tech leaders received a $5 million grant from the city.

The funds will help leaders at the Comer Education Campus build Xchange Grand Crossing — a 50,000-square-foot, $27 million project at 7301 South Chicago Avenue in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, Block Club reported. 

The facility will train and employ residents interested in pursuing a career in tech or a related field. Bitwise Industries, a California-based company that “builds tech economies in underestimated cities,” will be the anchor tenant of the building, special projects director Emily Emmerman told the outlet. Bitwise runs similar businesses in California that teach members of traditionally underserved communities computer programming and other technology skills

The project extends the list of the Comer Foundation’s community-based developments since it was established in 1986, Emmerman said. She referred to Xchange Grand Crossing as one of the organization’s “biggest, all-hands-on-deck projects to date” and that the $5 million grant  “supercharged the capital campaign” to build the workforce project.

Last year, the project received a $500,000 grant from We Rise Together, a program created by the Chicago Community Trust in 2020. The development is also eligible for a donation match from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, the outlet reported. The development site is ready for construction, and January 2025 is the target completion date, assuming Comer attains adequate funding in a timely manner.

“We view the Xchange model as a new way of doing business that creates more opportunities for diverse talent, wealth building, commercial growth and community impact on the South Side,” Emmerman told the outlet. “We’re a deserving community like every other one, and we think this is a winning formula to change the equation.” 

Emmerman said growth and high-paying jobs within the tech sector led to the idea for Xchange Grand Crossing. She also mentioned that the South Side deserves more opportunities for youth and large-scale developments, noting that the bulk of such projects are happening in Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods, like Fulton Market.

— Quinn Donoghue

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