The Plant is a 93,500 square foot former meat packing plant in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood that has been repurposed into a vertical farm and business incubator. A complex and highly interrelated system, The Plant is a collaborative community of small food businesses focused on growing, producing, and/or sourcing a variety of food products, while striving to close loops of waste and energy.

 

The Plant is owned and operated by Bubbly Dynamics, LLC, whose first project was the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center. Located in the Stockyards Industrial Corridor, this 24,000 sq. ft. former paint warehouse was sustainably renovated using salvaged materials and green building techniques. It is now fully occupied with independent manufacturing businesses and artists.

 

A major project in the works at The Plant is the development of an anaerobic digester. Waste from the building will be a fraction of the volume of waste processed by the digester, yet the digester will demonstrate that even food‐production businesses, which are typically waste and energy intensive, can operate sustainably by closing waste loops.