In January 2022, Mars Wrigley, the maker of Milky Way, Snickers and Three Musketeers candy, announced its plan to move operations from its Chicago plant at 2019 N. Oak Park Ave. to its other facilities throughout the United States.
It is now one step closer to determining what will happen to its property.
When it closes later this year, Mars Wrigley will transfer the 20-acre Chicago site to a developer and is in the process of finalizing who that will be.
“The ultimate goal is that it will provide benefit to the community,” said Anne Vela-Wagner, the executive director of the Mars Wrigley Foundation, about the future of the site. “What that looks like is quite complicated, and it’s been a very inspiring journey to go on.”
The process to find a developer to take over the Mars factory started in 2022, when a group of Chicago organizations — Austin Coming Together, the City of Chicago, Galewood Neighbors, Northwest Center, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Chicago (LISC) — organized a series of five meetings to collect community feedback about what should take over the space at 2019 N. Oak Park Ave.
LISC compiled the main takeaways from the meeting into a report, which recommends the site be a mixed-use space and receive historical designation.
The City of Chicago will decide whether to rezone the property from a Planned Manufacturing District to mixed-use zoning. The process is public, involving community feedback, and could take at least a year after a developer applies to change the site’s zoning.
“The rezoning aspect of this whole project is going to drive a lot of the timing,” Vela-Wagner said.
In October, the building’s facade on Oak Park Avenue was submitted to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to receive historical designation. The Mars Wrigley plant in Galewood opened in 1929 as the first of the company’s manufacturing sites outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the factory housed its corporate headquarters there for decades. If the city approves the facade’s historical designation, the chosen developer is required to leave the facade.
Mars received several proposals from developers to take over the site, according to Vela-Wagner. Criteria for choosing a developer includes the developer’s alignment with both Mars’ and the community’s vision, plus the developer’s past experience and financial terms, officials said in a statement with the process’ update.
But just because the Chicago Mars site will cease to exist, the candy company’s presence in the city won’t.
In January, Mars Wrigley announced the opening of a global research and development hub on its Goose Island campus, the world headquarters for the company’s snacking business, which will continue operations.
“We are definitely dedicated to the City of Chicago,” Vela-Wagner said. “We have a long history here and we honor that and want to continue to work closely with the community throughout this.”
Vela-Wagner said that the community engagement process in preparing to transfer the Chicago factory’s property to a developer is a new endeavor for Mars.
“Transparency has been key,” Vela-Wagner said. “We’re coming at this really grounded in mutuality. It’s one of Mars’ principles and how we work. So, it’s not just about what’s good for Mars, it’s about what’s good for everyone.”
“We feel we’ve been good neighbors,” she added. “We’ve been surrounded by good neighbors, and we want to continue that in the years to come.”
Vela-Wagner said Mars Wrigley will announce a developer in the next few months. The Mars factory will close before the end of the year.