East Chicago Qualified Opportunity Fund, LLC

A vacant, contaminated industrial site on the north bank of the Grand Calumet River will be redeveloped as one of the first federal Opportunity Zone projects of its scale, according to one of its lead investors.

East Chicago Gateway Partnership co-owner and partner Scott Aschoff said a fund created to invest in the site is the first Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund to be fully capitalized and to take ownership of a parcel the size of the 440-acre former DuPont property east of Kennedy Avenue. The partnership plans to create a logistics center there that will take advantage of its proximity to the Gary/Chicago International Airport.

“We think this is the hidden gem in all Chicagoland,” Aschoff said of the site.

He said the 225-developable acres could become home to as many as 3,000 jobs. Aschoff said the financial benefits offered by opportunity zones, which cover much of the northern tier of Lake County, have made it attractive to investors.

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