SOUTH SIDE INVESTMENT COMPANY RECEIVES $3 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM BENEFIT CHICAGO

Benefit Chicago awards $3 million impact investment to DL3 Advisors, led by Leon Walker (middle). Photo Credit: Provided by DL3 Realty
Benefit Chicago awards $3 million impact investment to DL3 Advisors, led by Leon Walker (middle). Photo Credit: Provided by DL3 Realty

SOUTH SIDE INVESTMENT COMPANY RECEIVES $3 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM BENEFIT CHICAGO

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Benefit Chicago, a local impact investment fund, recently announced that they are making a $3 million impact investment in DL3 Advisors, LLC which is a new impact investment company created by DL3 Realty. DL3 Realty is known for being a south side developer and working on projects that are rooted in community relationships and cultural preservation.

“DL3 Realty Advisors is the new arm of DL3 Realty that sources and stewards institutional capital investments into neighborhood revitalization projects,” said Leon Walker, managing partner of DL3 Realty.

On paper, DL3 Realty is a full-service real estate development firm but what sets it apart from other developers in Chicago is their commitment to transforming disinvested communities, particularly on the south side, through high-impact commercial real estate projects.

Most recently, DL3 Realty partnered to open a brand new Jewel-Osco grocery store in the Woodlawn neighborhood. The Woodlawn community hadn’t had their own full-service grocery for nearly 40 years prior to the Jewel-Osco opening. Before that, DL3 realty worked to build Englewood Square and again brought a full-service grocery store to a community that needed it.

“If you look at how Mr. Walker has led the organization thus far, he was able to go in and partner with the City and other officials to get the Englewood Square open,” said Dr. William Towns, executive director of Benefit Chicago. “The way that he structured that transaction in a way that allowed 40 local vendors to participate and looked for minority construction companies and women owned businesses to participate, those sorts of things and that sort of mindset about creating shared value is incredibly important.”

Benefit Chicago is an impact investment fund that is collectively offering $100 million dollars funding to finance the growth of enterprise in Chicago that are helping to build wealth in developing communities, create jobs where they are most needed, and enhance job readiness skills for unemployed individuals.

The Chicago Community Trust, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Calvert Impact Capital all collaborated to create Benefit Chicago as a way to invest in parts of Chicago where capital is seen as being limited, according to Dr. Towns.

“We typically know this to be the south and west side communities in our city and our belief is that if we can figure out how to get capital to flow into these communities that this could be one of the ways to help improve the economic and social-economic standards in those communities,” said Towns.

Benefit Chicago chose to invest in DL3 Realty and Walker not only because of his proven ability to get remarkable projects completed, but because of his dedication to the south side and his tireless efforts to create development projects that are inclusive, equitable, and which make a long lasting positive impact on the community they are situated in.

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