Industrial Growth Zones Program

Reimbursement Grant Application

Thank you for your interest and participation in Mayor Emanuel’s Industrial Growth Zones initiative. This program accelerates development and growth in Chicago’s Industrial sector by offering both reimbursement grants for environmental site assessments and remediation as well as concierge services to support development projects.



The following reimbursement grant application may be submitted online or hard-copy. Please continue below or download the application (PDF).


Site Information

Is this property enrolled in the Industrial Growth Zones program? (If no, please visit growthzones.com to enroll the property. Only properties enrolled in the program may be eligible for reimbursements.)*
What is the property's certification level? (Properties must be silver or gold certified in order to be eligible for reimbursement grants. For questions, please contact info@growthzones.com)*
Properties enrolled in the Industrial Growth Zones program receive a "Site Certification" level to indicate the information available on the site's environmental conditions. Basic = no ESAs, Silver=pre-existing Phase I ESA, Gold= pre-existing Phase I and current Phase II
What is the current Property status?*

Applicant Information

Applicant's role:*
Address*

Reimbursement Information

Reimbursement grant requested for (select all that apply):*

Please provide a description of the property/project, its status, and reason(s) for applying for the reimbursement grant at this time:

What has prompted the application to apply for reimbursement grant at this time:*
If there is a pending project, please describe how it impacts Chicago's Industrial sector:*
If there is a pending project, how long has the project been in discussion/planning?*
If this property was available for development, how long was it on the market?*
What is the job impact for this property or project? (select all that apply)*
In addition to this current application, has this property applied for or received in the last 12 months any of the following other financial incentives? If not, is the applicant interested in receiving information about these incentives?
In addition to this current application, has this property applied for or received in the last 12 months any of the following other financial incentives? If not, is the applicant interested in receiving information about these incentives?
  Received Applied for Request Info
Phase I ESA (update) reimbursement
Phase II ESA reimbursement
Site Remediation Costs reimbursement
Land Sale Write Down
Property Tax Incentives (6b, C, etc.)
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
TIF Works or TIF Works 50/50
Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF)
Enterprise Zone
New market Tax Credits

Supporting Documents

Unless it has been submitted to the City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development within the last 90 days as part of another financial incentive application, an Economic Disclosure Statement is required for ALL applicants.


  • Economic Disclosure Statement (PDF)


Additional documents are required for this application and based on the requested reimbursement(s):



For Phase I or Phase II ESA reimbursements:

  1. For applicants seeking conditional approval of reimbursement prior to conducting the specified ESA, a copy of the original proposal from the contractor for the ESA report is required. After receiving conditional approval and once the ESA is completed, applicants must submit a copy of the final ESA report along with proof of payment to receive reimbursement.
  1. For applicants seeking reimbursement for completed ESAs:
    1. The ESA and the research required to compile it must be conducted after July 20, 2016 and completed before August 1, 2019
    2. A copy of the final ESA report (please make certain your contractor has released the ESA report to the City of Chicago and/or its designee for review)
    3. Proof of payment from the contractor indicating the total payment amount and when it was submitted

For Site Remediation reimbursements:

  1. Project description including budget with itemized costs for site remediation, project timing with target completion date, and resulting job creation if applicable
  2. A copy of the approved site remediation plan


Phase I or Phase II ESA proposal
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Reimbursement Conditions and Acknowledgement

The Industrial Growth Zones program offers reimbursement grants under the following conditions:


For Phase I ESA renewals: up to $5,000 per Property towards the cost of updating a Phase I environmental site assessment report.


For Phase II ESA: 50% of costs of a Phase II environmental site assessment report, up to $25,000 maximum assistance per Property


For conditional approval of Phase I renewals or Phase II ESAs, the City will issue a letter indicating approval for the specified ESA if the ESA is conducted within 6 months and completed within 12 months of the City’s conditional approval. No extension will be granted and any funds set aside for the conditional approval will be released to other applicants after the 12 month period.


For site remediation: for environmental remediation measures necessary to address soil contamination identified in a Phase I and Phase II, the lesser of (i) hard costs or (ii) 50% of hard costs plus soft costs, up to $100,000 maximum assistance per property, provided that to be eligible, the remediation must be conducted pursuant to a Site Remediation Program for the environmental remediation of the

Property and overseen by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.


The Industrial Growth Zone program is designed to promote local hiring in the areas surrounding the Growth Zones, both to improve neighborhood vitality and to make workforce development and retention easier for Growth Zone businesses. To accomplish this objective, businesses participating in the program agree to work with a concierge at the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership to help them identify employees.


The applicant understands and agrees that the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership shall, at no charge, serve as the first resource for finding candidates to fill position vacancies for businesses that 1) receive remediation reimbursement or 2) operate on land that has received remediation reimbursement as part of the Industrial Growth Zone program.


The Partnership’s referred candidate pool will be comprised of City residents who meet the desired qualifications identified by the Employer, sourced from the Partnership’s network of workforce development agencies, individuals identified through employer-specific hiring events, and databases of prospective employees. The Partnership will focus on eligible candidates living near the business. The Partnership may also offer the Employer additional resources for the recruitment, training and retention of new hires, including access to federal subsidies where appropriate. After sufficient lead time, as agreed to by the Employer and the Partnership, the Employer shall be free to seek other sources to fill position vacancies.


Additionally, all properties must be located within one of the 5 designated Growth Zones as well as within one of the TIF districts which has contributed funds to this program. Applicants must agree to make the property available for development and for industrial use only. Applicants will be approved for reimbursements on a first-come-first serve basis to the extend funds are available.


I have read and understand the conditions for reimbursement.

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