Green City Market Buys a Permanent Home in Lincoln Square

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Green City Market, the popular, sustainably focused farmers market, has a new home. While its outdoor farmers markets will continue in Lincoln Park and the West Loop during the growing season, GCM has purchased a former plant nursery in Lincoln Square to host its offices, indoor farmers market over winter, educational space, and more. 

“This just gives us more stability, gives our farmers more stability,” says Letisha Steele, the chief executive officer of GCM.

The building is located at 2457 W. Montrose, next door to an ALDI grocery store. “Our hope is that with ALDI being so close, shoppers will come in here and will want to support our farmers, and with us doing triple value for SNAP, I think that is another really great opportunity,” Steele says, referring to low-income shoppers who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food benefits. SNAP benefits are tripled at GCM.

GCM’s current indoor market will continue at Rockwell on the River in Avondale through March. Steele hopes to have the new building ready by spring, around when the outdoor markets start up again.

The building is a fulfillment of a plan by GCM founder Abby Mandel for a permanent home for the market. Mandel left money in a trust when she died in 2008 for that purpose, which has now allowed GCM to buy the Lincoln Square building more than 25 years after Mandel first started the market in an alley in the Loop, at a time when farmers markets were rare in Chicago and access to local produce was limited.

Steele took over as CEO of GCM last year, after a career in food nonprofits in Denver. She has expansive visions for the building beyond simply hosting farmers markets during the winter in the former greenhouse space. She envisions a demonstration kitchen for GCM’s educational programming, coolers to refrigerate produce from farmers who have sometimes driven a few hours to get to the city, and even a retail space where GCM vendors could sell gelato, juice, and other prepared foods.

“We’re also looking into a farm stop model,” Steele says: “consignment stores where farmers can sell their product” – essentially an alternative to a grocery store, in which all of the produce is from local farms. 

“We do want to honor that there’s also Lincoln Square farmers market” within a mile of the new headquarters, Steele says, “and we don’t want to impede on any of the things that they’re doing. We want to work together.” 

GCM is currently running a capital campaign to fully outfit the building, but Steele says there’s not too much work to be done and is hoping to at least move GCM’s business offices in and start hosting pop-ups by spring of this year.