Urban Juncture

Rebuilding a historic Chicago neighborhood into a Black food & culture hot spot

Last Funded November 2017

$176,829

raised from 147 investors
Bernard Lloyd earned 2018 Governor’s Difference Makers Award
Last updated December 2018

Highlights

1
We raised $9 million to bring delicious Black cuisine from across the globe to 51st Street and the CTA Green Line station, the heart of Bronzeville.
2
We purchased and renovated 16,000 sq. ft of building space and acquired two other nearby properties.
3
Our first restaurant, The Bronzeville Jerk Shack, won "Best Jerk Chicken in Chicago" from RedEye.
4
We created award-winning community garden and bicycling initiatives that bring neighbors and guests together celebrate Bronzeville.

Our Team

President
Bernard is a former partner at McKinsey & Company, which he joined after earning his PhD from MIT. He serves on the Board of Governors of Metropolitan Planning Council and lives in Bronzeville.
Richard MottRestaurateur
A Chicago restaurateur with 25 yrs experience, Richard has developed three-star restaurants (North Pond and Fuse), casual eateries, ~20 cafés, a catering company, and a 40,000 sq. ft. shared kitchen
Kirby JohnsonDirector, Bronzeville Incubator
South Side native who ran his first enterprise, a music promotion company, out of his college dorm room and retired from his second to return home to help the next generation of entrepreneurs

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Overview