Urban Market Exchange — SEEK Design + Architecture

Urban Market
Exchange

Location: Woodlawn, Chicago, IL
Year: 2024
Size: 10,000 sq ft
Status: Under Construction
Category: Office, Commercial, Residential
Services: Architecture, Interiors

Urban Market Exchange is a transformative adaptive reuse project that revitalizes a vacant building on the southwest corner of South Rhodes Avenue and East 67th Street in Chicago’s historic Woodlawn community. This initiative breathes new life into an underutilized space, creating a vibrant hub for collaboration, innovation, and community connection.

The project is designed to foster economic growth and inspire the community by providing a safe, clean, and affordable workspace for small business owners, artisans, and makers. Founded in 2019, Urban Market Exchange emerged from a vision of reintegrating black-owned businesses, particularly in manufacturing, back into black communities. The project emphasizes the value of creating opportunities that uplift and resonate throughout the neighborhood.

With co-manufacturing spaces, flexible retail and work accommodations, real and virtual office spaces, and areas for classes and workshops, Urban Market Exchange offers a dynamic and collaborative environment for businesses of all types. It is a destination where entrepreneurs and professionals can connect with clients, customers, and fellow business owners, enhancing their productivity and accessibility.

By transforming this vacant building into a vibrant marketplace for ideas, products, and services, the Urban Market Exchange not only preserves an existing structure but also strengthens the cultural and economic fabric of the South Side and Chicago at large.