About the Project
history of the englewood corridor
Englewood, situated 8 miles south of downtown Chicago, once thrived as a bustling commercial area at 63rd and Halsted, rivaled only by the downtown Loop shopping district. However, population decline due to white flight and redlining caused major retailers to leave, leaving the commercial heart partially vacant. Recent City of Chicago investments include a $250 million Kennedy-King college facility and plans for Englewood Square, strategically positioned near public transport stops. These initiatives aim to revitalize the area, offering job training, local cuisine, and potential amenities like senior housing, education, and sports fields on nearby land.
Eradicating Food Deserts
Low-income areas in Chicago, like Englewood, face a lack of fresh grocery options, often termed "food deserts" or "food swamps." Englewood Square's initiative includes a Whole Foods Market to provide residents access to healthier food choices and fresh produce. Whole Foods will partner with local groups and the Washburne Culinary Institute for educational programs on healthy eating practices in the neighborhood.
DL3 Realty, Advisors
DL3 Realty Advisors is a Chicago-based impact investment and development firm with more than 25 years of experience executing public-private commercial real estate projects. Since 2020, DL3 has developed more than one million square feet and helped create over 3,000 jobs through housing, employment centers, healthcare, retail, and industrial investments across Chicago. Englewood Square reflects the firm’s commitment to creating lasting neighborhood assets by aligning private capital, public support, and community priorities. Englewood Square reflects DL3's Venture Development™ approach—partnering with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to create neighborhood assets that generate lasting economic opportunity. Building on the success of Englewood Square, DL3 continued its long-term commitment to the community through Thrive Englewood, the neighborhood's first major mixed-income residential development in decades. In 2025, Thrive Englewood delivered the first new affordable family housing, which builds on the neighborhood retail, and public gathering spaces while helping reconnect the historic 63rd Street commercial corridor.
By the numbers
- 5.5 acre development in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood
- 20,000 SF Whole Foods Market
- 22,000 SF of complementary retail space
- Two outlot parcels
- 2,648 more residents in Englewood will be within a mile of a grocery store when Whole Foods opens
- 3.3 percent decline in total residents living in low-income areas who are more than a mile from a large grocery store
- The shopping center opened in the Fall of 2016
- Part of a larger 13-acre development located at a four-way intersection near Kennedy King Community College
- Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc., an Illinois nonprofit, will develop the remaining portions of the larger 13-acre parcel
Made for the neighborhood
The Market will be a slightly smaller store. The grocery space at Englewood Square is leased to Whole Foods Market, a division of Amazon, under a long-term master lease. Whole Foods continues to maintain its commitment to the Englewood location and actively subleases the space to qualified grocery operators that serve neighborhood residents.
As consumer shopping habits continue to evolve—including the growth of online grocery delivery and industry-wide consolidation—Whole Foods remains engaged in identifying experienced operators capable of providing fresh groceries and quality service to the Englewood community while preserving long-term access to healthy food options.
Conveniently Located
Englewood Square opened in Fall 2016 as the first phase of the revitalization of the 63rd Street and Halsted commercial corridor. Located on a 5.5-acre site adjacent to Kennedy-King College, the development anchors a broader mixed-use district that continues to evolve through new residential, retail, and community investment.The next phase of that vision is Thrive Englewood, developed by DL3 Realty Advisors as the first new family housing community constructed in Englewood in more than 50 years. Thrive Englewood delivers more than 100 mixed-income apartments, neighborhood-serving retail, and public open space, reinforcing the corridor as a vibrant place to live, work, and invest.
Understanding Food Deserts
Office of the Mayor
Leasing Information
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Multi-Tenant Retail Building - Leased
Outlot A - Leased
Outlot B - 2,500 sf available