Mayor Richard M. Daley announced last Thursday that Alstyle Apparel & Activewear Manufacturing Co., a local T-shirt manufacturer and distributor, will move its operations to a North Side industrial building that has been largely vacant for two years, through assistance from the City’s economic development programs. The $18.2 million project will retain 266 jobs and create an additional 182 within the next two to three years as Alstyle expands its operations.
“One of the best untold stories in Chicago is the day-to-day effort to create and retain jobs in the thousands of small businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of people throughout the city,” Major Daley said at a news conference at Alstyle’s new home, 2500 W. Bradley Pl.
“Although we’re always looking to attract new companies to Chicago, one of the prime objectives of our economic development policy is to help Chicago companies grow, so they can employ more Chicagoans and pump more money into the Chicago economy.”
Alstyle currently operates at 3001 W. Cornelia Ave. in a 60,000-square-foot facility that has become functionally obsolete and provides no opportunity for expansion.
It will move into a 367,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the northern portion of the Addison Industrial Corridor. The building is an anchor site for the corridor, which is home to 60 firms and 3,500 employees.
Alstyle will occupy 226,000 square feet of the new facility, which it recently purchased. The remainder of the building is leased by the Bodine Electric Co.
The City will sponsor Alstyle’s request to the Cook County board for a Class 6(b) tax incentive, a reduced property tax assessment rate for manufacturing or industrial facilities. The tax incentive would save Alstyle about $2.5 million over the next 12 years. The new facility is located in one of the city’s six enterprise zones, which also makes it eligible for additional city and state tax credits.
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