Developer transforming Northwest Side’s Marshall Field’s complex into Chicago’s latest film studio

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Knickpoint Ventures held a topping-off ceremony Monday for The Fields Studios, what the company bills as Chicago’s first purpose-built film studio, at the former Marshall Field’s warehouse campus on the Northwest Side. The developer bought the site in 2018 and plans to complete construction and open nine soundstages, along with creative and production offices, by early next year.

Zain Koita, the company’s founder and managing partner, said the 21-acre site at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. in the Avondale neighborhood, built in 1928 but closed by Macy’s in 2008, will once again provide thousands of high-paying jobs.

“This has always been an economic driver of the neighborhood, except for the past 10 years, and our goal was to return it to that state,” he said. “The film industry is generally unionized from top to bottom, and that’s great for Chicago.”

Chicago has long been one of Hollywood’s favorite locations, and the rapid expansion of television streaming services, especially during the pandemic, led to audiences craving more content. But existing studios such as Cinespace Chicago Film Studios in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side can’t keep up with demand.

“Cinespace has been full for a long time, so places where more productions can take place and people go to work is a very good thing,” said Brenda Webb, executive director of Chicago Filmmakers, a nonprofit that trains aspiring filmmakers for jobs in the industry. “Studios all say, ‘We’d love to shoot more in Chicago, but you don’t have enough stages.’”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said generous state tax benefits and subsidies encourage producers to shoot movies and television shows in Illinois, including “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD,” “Chicago Med,” FX’s hit “The Bear,” among many others, and kick-started The Fields Studios, as well as other studios set to open in the next few years.

“This project is an economic growth engine for Illinois, reenergizing our growing film industry and supporting growth across industries,” Pritzker said in a statement. “From the construction of the space to the workforce training opportunities, to the estimated $1.5 billion in new spending as a result of The Fields presence in Chicago, this studio and the work it will attract will bring revenue into Illinois and help cement our place in the national film and TV scene.”

State officials said film production expenditures in Illinois hit nearly $700 million in 2022, a new record and up from $560 million in 2019, resulting in more than 15,000 jobs. In March, Pritzker extended the state’s film production tax credit, created in 2008, until 2033.

Koita said Knickpoint did more than convert unused warehouse space. Its soundstages were designed from the ground up with input from film producers and will include one of 36,000 square feet, which would be the state’s largest. And each production will tap local businesses to supply catering, construction, services, set design and other services.

“The size and scale of this is going to be much different than what the market has today,” he said. “This will have a tremendous ripple effect throughout the economy.”

The 1.5-million-square-foot complex is already occupied by local grocer Cermak Fresh Market, as well as 123 rental apartments, giving studio employees opportunities to live on-site, added Koita. The new studio’s upper floors will provide 200,000 square feet of creative and production space, with another 50,000 square feet set aside for other retailers such as food and beverage operators.

“We’re a real campus with a real urban feel,” he said.

Webb said projects like The Fields Studio and Cinespace are creating a new industry for Chicago and stop many young people from migrating to Los Angeles or New York.

“I graduated from film school in the 1970s, and back then everybody said if you wanted a job, you had to leave Chicago, so this is something long dreamed for.”