Real Estate & Development News
MAT Asphalt LLC, the owner and operator of the recently constructed asphalt plant off Pershing Road and Damen Avenue, has announced two new elements of community outreach: its new website at https://matasphalt.com and an online video that explains its product, business and operations.
"Launching our website and reaching out to our neighbors to tell our story are just two ways we are demonstrating our openness to McKinley Park and our pride in the cleanliness and safety of our operations," said plant co-owner Michael Tadin Jr. "We have an open-door policy with the community."
Read more: MAT Asphalt Reaches Out to Community with Website, Video
The McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan is now online! Click here to read the plan.The McKinley Park Development Council continued its work toward a comprehensive neighborhood plan at a first-of-its-kind business focus group on Wednesday, September 19, at the 36Squared Business Incubator. Working with support of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the event drew dozens of local business owners and operators who shared their concerns, priorities and ideas for the community in order to inform the neighborhood plan, a project the council won from CMAP in 2017.
This event was the first of its kind for the McKinley Park neighborhood, which has never enjoyed collaborative business networking or a business-specific support group. In the same manner as the neighborhood plan's resident-focused conclave this past July, smaller breakout groups used oversized maps of the community area to note neighborhood assets, highlight areas of concern and write up their ideas for improvements.
Read more: Development Council Advances Neighborhood Planning at Business Focus Group
A first-of-its-kind gathering of McKinley Park neighborhood businesses looks to inform community planning at the Business Focus Group breakfast on Sept. 19 at the 36Squared Business Incubator. Part of the McKinley Park Development Council’s project to create a comprehensive neighborhood plan, the event welcomes the participation of all enterprises in the McKinley Park Community Area and the Central Manufacturing District.
The focus group’s business outreach is an important component of the neighborhood plan, which is administered as a project of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), said council President John Belcik. “This plan will help guide McKinley Park into its future,” he said.
Read more: McKinley Park Businesses to Convene Toward Neighborhood Planning
Neighbors for Environmental Justice, a recently formed, grassroots group based in the McKinley Park neighborhood, launched its programs and advocacy with a well-attended community meeting and the rollout of specific projects, including a new air quality sensor network. Formed as a response to the quickly built MAT Asphalt plant at 2055 W. Pershing Road, the environmental justice group seeks to keep an eye on current industry, counter the environmental impact of encroaching industry and hold elected officials accountable for harmful pollution in the area.
"What is to come to the South Side?" asked group member Kim Wasserman, a McKinley Park resident and the executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). She was one of several speakers at the group's July 26 community meeting, when she highlighted Chicago's dislocated North and West side industries now seeking new homes, as well as the City of Chicago's flawed process for approving new industrial development.
Read more: Environmental Justice Group Launches as Counterpoint to New Industrial Development
The McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan is now online! Click here to read the plan.The neighborhood development plan for McKinley Park officially launched to the public at the Wednesday, July 18, meeting of the McKinley Park Development Council, attracting nearly 100 local residents, business owners, stakeholders and representatives from elected office and community groups. This cadre of neighbors worked together through the first neighborhood development plan workshop from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), which in 2017 awarded the council a Local Technical Assistance project to develop the neighborhood plan.
At the top of the meeting, the council moved forward with its organizational development, holding member elections for five new board member candidates, all of whom were elected to the board. Anabel Abarca, Dan Covarrubias, Mario Diaz, Liz Grez and Jonathan Lazatin join founding board members Tony Adams, John Belcik, Samantha Belcik, Kara Breems, Dayna Calderón and Justin Kerr as the first full board of directors for the council.
Read more: Neighborhood Throngs to Development Plan Launch; Council Members Elect Expanded Board
