Fifth Round of Scholarships Provided to Southwest Chicago Students by Leading Sustainable Redevelopment Firm

Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP), a Chicago-based redevelopment firm that specializes in transforming obsolete industrial sites in major cities, today announced the awardees of the fifth annual Hilco Scholars scholarship program. Launched in 2019, the Hilco Scholars program provides scholarships to students in Southwest Chicago to study at one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago or a 4-year college or university. Through the program, HRP has awarded over $85,000 in scholarships to 10 local students to date. This year’s award recipients will each receive $10,000 to support their higher education goals.

“We are deeply invested in our role as neighbors and community members, and the Hilco Scholars program is one way we can give back and foster growth here in our hometown.” said HRP Chief Executive Officer Roberto Perez. “Transforming industrial sites that no longer serve communities into sustainable economic engines means more than putting up buildings and planting trees – it means ensuring local residents can share in the opportunities our projects create.  We are extremely proud of all Hilco Scholars and the successes we have seen from participating students as they pursue their full potential.”

“The Hilco Scholars program was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” said Rudy Cordero, a past Hilco Scholars recipient. “When I started applying to college, I was worried about the financial strain on my family. Since receiving the scholarship, I’ve gone on to pursue further education at Yale, and I couldn’t have done it without this program.”

The 2023 Hilco Scholars are Pamela Almanza, who is attending the University of Illinois Chicago and studying real estate and marketing, and Tianyao Lu, attending University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and studying business. In addition to being a scholarship recipient, Ms. Almanza will be interning with HRP through the company’s workforce development program.

“I am incredibly excited about the opportunities HRP is providing in both my academic and professional career,” said Ms. Almanza. “As a college student, we are asked to balance a lot. HRP is helping alleviate some of that stress by removing a financial burden and providing real-life experience to ensure I am qualified to succeed once I am ready to pursue a career.”

HRP’s holistic approach to redevelopment prioritizes environmental, community and economic sustainability. This mission inspires the firm to maintain transparency and engagement with the communities in which they work. When HRP purchased the former Crawford Station power plant in 2017, which had been a source of pollution and a barrier to connectivity in the Little Village Industrial Corridor, the company committed to transforming the 70-acre site into a new standard for sustainable redevelopment. Now complete, Exchange 55 is Chicago’s largest LEED-certified industrial building and home to a Target flow center that has created over 2,000 jobs.

About Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP):

HRP is a vertically integrated real estate investment and redevelopment company that re-imagines, remediates, and redevelops obsolete industrial sites across the United States with a uniquely holistic approach to development that prioritizes economic, community and environmental sustainability. HRP’s redevelopment expertise ranges from modern logistics and distribution facilities to urban, mixed-use projects, and life science ecosystems. HRP strives to transform not only properties, but also the communities surrounding them through a comprehensive approach to community engagement, environmental sustainability, and economic development.