Vienna Beef Secures $5 Million City Subsidy for South Side Move

Article by Carrie Frillman
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A city panel reportedly green-lighted a $5 million subsidy Tuesday to pay for Vienna Beef Ltd's move from Damen Avenue to Bridgeport.

"The Community Development Commission's unanimous approval of tax-increment financing (TIF) will help the Chicago-based hot dog maker cover the $5 million purchase and $7.3 million renovation of a 103,445-square-foot factory at 1000 W. Pershing Road," says a Chicago Real Estate Daily report.

Vienna is moving there from its 150,000-square-foot factory at 2501 N. Damen Ave., located just west of the Chicago River and blocks from Lincoln Park's border. 

It has been the headquarters since 1972. 

Among reasons Vienna decided to move is the planned redesign of the Elston, Fullerton and Damen intersection, which has long been known as one of the city's most dangerous cross-streets.

The Real Estate Daily story cites that information to a report prepared for the commission, stating that "the proposed roadway realignment could impair Vienna's vehicular access."

• READ: City Releases Renderings of Long-Awaited 6-Way Intersection Revamp

North Side officials have been steadily chipping away at a to-do list that will allow them to revamp the intersection, but Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in April that he submitted an official proposal to the City Council to acquire the nine parcels of land needed to complete the project.

“For more than a decade, the city has been planning to make improvements to this congested and dangerous intersection," he said. "Residents have been waiting for this project for some time—just as they wait for lights at the intersection—it’s time that we move the project forward."

Between 82,000 and 90,000 vehicles pass through there every day, Chicago Department of Transportation data indicates, and traffic often backs up. 

But the redevelopment reference wasn't the only interesting information found in the panel's documents.

"The report also said Vienna “has been courted to relocate to other states," the story says. "The relocation of this business would retain Vienna in the city and continue a long tradition of manufacturing its globally recognized product in Chicago.”

Should the City Council give the go-ahead for the project, construction at the new Pershing Road site would start in the fall. Vienna would move in December 2014.