A 135-year-old South Lawndale building will be rehabilitated as a $4.6 million business incubator through City financing approved by City Council today.

Little Village Business Incubator LLC will use a $1.7 million Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grant to rehabilitate the vacant three-story building at 3523-25 W. 26th St. as the Xquina Business Incubator. The 13,000-square-foot facility will support local entrepreneurship with shared offices, a shared commercial kitchen, a bank, a minority-owned café, and bilingual business services.

The rehabilitation project was first proposed in 2018 but was delayed to pandemicrelated timing and financing issues.

The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund allocates voluntary zoning fees from downtown construction projects to support neighborhood commercial corridors in low- to moderate-income communities on the South, Southwest, and West sides. Projects with grant amounts exceeding $250,000 require City Council approval.

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