# Urban Juncture

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

## Elevator pitch
We’re taking a historic Chicago community that’s been abandoned by banks and businesses and joining with friends, neighbors, and partners to rebuild it into the vibrant hub of Black culture and commerce it once was. We’re developing restaurants celebrating black cuisine from across the globe, launching a co-working facility to lift up the next generation of community enterprises, and operating award-winning garden and bicycling programs to attract visitors and bring residents together.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/urban.juncture
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:9379
- Last updated: 2026-06-06T05:00:38Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-06T09:43:50Z

## Quick facts
- 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.
- We purchased and renovated 16,000 sq. ft of building space and acquired two other nearby properties.
- Our first restaurant, The Bronzeville Jerk Shack, won "Best Jerk Chicken in Chicago" from RedEye.
- We created award-winning community garden and bicycling initiatives that bring neighbors and guests together celebrate Bronzeville.
- We engaged 1000 people per week in events and activities during the 2015 summer season.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:5355: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## FAQ
1. **Is there someone who I could speak to about these investment opportunities. I have not seen a lot of action in recent weeks and wanted to check-in about the campaign and whether or not it was still moving forward.**
   - Thanks for you interest! Yes we are absolutely moving forward. Our formal Community Launch Celebration will occur in Chicago this Saturday (2-4p starting with tour of The Forum and continuing with a tour of Bronzeville Cookin' and a Q&A session). Please join us if you can. If you can't but have questions please post them here. We will address them as part of the Q&A, which will be posted here.
2. **When are payments expected to be made for the promissory note? Every quarter, semi-annually, annually?**
   - Interest payments will be made annually.
3. **what mode of payment do you accept?**
   - The Wefunder platform uses a direct electronic payment from your bank account.
4. **Hi. This is a great endeavor, a possible win-win all around. I have a question about your guarantee that I'm not sure exactly how to ask. I am quite impressed with your background and your success to date, but how do I assess the strength of your guarantee given how much you a...**
   - Thank you. Apologies for my delay - I've been pondering how best to respond. Let me say this. First, my guarantee is a formal articulation of my personal commitment to do everything possible to repay Wefunder loans. Second, we will need substantially more funds to completely rehabilitate and re-inhabit the structure - Wefunder loans will be a catalyst to that. Third, there is currently no other debt on the building and the value of the building "as-is" far surpasses the $100,000 Wefunder goal.
5. **I see you are well over the initial $100K envisioned. Congratulations! However, how does this now effect repayment as/when/if amount funded becomes greater than collateral? Am I correct in believing the 5% rate is A) fixed and B) will not be compounded per previous question by...**
   - Thanks! Our initial goal was $100,000, however our capital need is significantly higher, and we are in the process of revising this goal upwards. The increased funds will allow us to increase our investment in Bronzeville, thereby creating valuable amenities and jobs at our Forum project and expanding the shipping container-retail effort that is part of Bronzeville Cookin'. Increased investment will allow us to get closer to the "critical mass" of positive activities required to revitalize th...

## Team
- Bernard Loyd (President)
- Richard Mott (Restaurateur)
- Kirby Johnson (Director, Bronzeville Incubator)
- Mike Beavers (Lead Carpenter & Construction Manager)
- Shyvette Williams (Interior Decorator)

## Recent posts
- Reflecting on 2024 (2025-01-03T05:19:48Z)
- Advancing Build Bronzeville in 2023 (2024-01-15T19:15:23Z)
- Quite a Year! (2023-01-20T07:21:33Z)
- Still waiting (2021-02-08T07:06:05Z)
- 6 months like no other! (2020-10-16T08:26:46Z)
- Love Chicago Build Bronzeville < 30 hours to go in Partners in Preservation competition (2018-10-25T21:53:32Z)
- Invest in Revitalization of Historic Bronzeville - LAST CHANCE (2017-10-31T06:14:52Z)
- One Heck of a Summer (2017-10-18T07:32:51Z)
- First set of repairs completed (2017-03-03T18:28:20Z)
- Bring Back The Forum (2016-10-26T02:04:22Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Looking for any current updates on my investment? Also how much of the loan has been re-paid? thanks Joe
  - A: Greetings, Joe. I have just posted an update on the work that your investment is facilitating. Also, we've just made the 6th set of interest payments to all investors. Your 2017 investment is part of a set of loans to Urban Juncture with a 10-year term, leading to repayment of the principal in 2027. Thank you for your support! Bernard
- Q: Hi Bernard, I reached out to WeFunder re: tax documents and they noted that given that the investment is with your organization directly, it is your responsibility to issue the tax documents. Let me know when I can expect them. Thanks!
- Q: Hi Bernard, when should we expect to be receiving 2019 tax documentation for interest paid out? Thanks!
  - A: Hi Brock, I have posed this question to the WeFunder team and will let you know as soon as they respond. Bes, Bernard
- Q: Is it too late to invest?
  - A: Correct. This round of funding has closed.
- Q: Do they plan on opening up another round of funding in 2018?
  - A: No future round is planned at this time.
- Q: There are a lot of references to 2016 as if nothing has progressed in the past year. 1. Why is 'The Jerk Shack' temporarily closed? 2. How is the Community Garden? 3. How is Bronzeville Bikes doing? There are several dead links to these places or redirects to places like Las Vegas. 4. What exactly is the first AND second priority of the funds being raised? 5. There was a reference to a hopeful launch for Q4 of 2017 of another establishment, has this happened or is it on track? 6. A personal guarantee for an ROI seems a little far-fetched unless your net worth allows for you to cover in case of a loss.
  - A: This past year has indeed been a whirlwind. One year ago we decided to apply lessons learned from the BikeBox to create multiple, shipping container-based retail spaces on the BikeBox site. The resulting "Boxville", Chicago's first street food market and container mall, has created a unique urban vibe, attracting thousands of shoppers and providing a retail platform for 60+ locally-owned enterprises this past summer. And, we're transitioning the Jerk Shack to serve as a "black box" restaurant venues to host our Boxville culinary partners in the off season. We're partnering with Southwest Airlines and Chicago Cares to rebuild Bronzeville Community Garden, which included a number of temporary structures that have far outlived their expected lives. We've also made good progress with The Forum, replacing a key floor and, just this past weekend, entertaining more than 1100 Open House Chicago visitors to Forum Hall with live performances, the first such in more than 4 decades. In addition, we have reached an agreement with City of Chicago to access their committed but non-disbursed Tax Increment Financing grant. This should allow us to continue our "bricks & mortar" culinary development on 51st Street in 1st half of 2018. Our priority uses of Wefunder proceeds are 1. to complete floor and roof repairs at The Forum and, 2. to expand the Boxville marketplace.
- Q: Hi Urban Juncture team I'm hosting a local investor's meeting in Chicago at mHub this coming Thursday (June 22nd) and would love for you all to come share information about Urban Juncture. Would you be up for that? You can email reach at davis@eazl.co.
- Q: Hello ,why are you raising funds as loan ? It should have been to allow investors to invest and earn shares in the long run. It look like you want investors money but you don't to be part of the bigger company if yhey make it .
  - A: We want to secure support from investors who believe in our work and are willing to accept a modest financial return to move it forward.
- Q: What kind of support do you have financially from the current mayor
  - A: Mayor Emanuel has not been directly involved with our efforts to this point. However, the City of Chicago under Mayor Daley committed $3 million in Tax Increment Financing to our Bronzeville Cookin' project and we are working with our Alderman and with Mayor Emanuel's team at the Department of Planning and Development to complete this project.
- Q: I see you are well over the initial $100K envisioned. Congratulations! However, how does this now effect repayment as/when/if amount funded becomes greater than collateral? Am I correct in believing the 5% rate is A) fixed and B) will not be compounded per previous question by Mr. Goldberg? Thanks.
  - A: Thanks! Our initial goal was $100,000, however our capital need is significantly higher, and we are in the process of revising this goal upwards. The increased funds will allow us to increase our investment in Bronzeville, thereby creating valuable amenities and jobs at our Forum project and expanding the shipping container-retail effort that is part of Bronzeville Cookin'. Increased investment will allow us to get closer to the "critical mass" of positive activities required to revitalize this community. The Wefunder investment is not collateralized, but repayment is guaranteed by me personally. You are correct, the 5% rate is not compounded.
- Q: Hi. This is a great endeavor, a possible win-win all around. I have a question about your guarantee that I'm not sure exactly how to ask. I am quite impressed with your background and your success to date, but how do I assess the strength of your guarantee given how much you are raising and the long term?
  - A: Thank you. Apologies for my delay - I've been pondering how best to respond. Let me say this. First, my guarantee is a formal articulation of my personal commitment to do everything possible to repay Wefunder loans. Second, we will need substantially more funds to completely rehabilitate and re-inhabit the structure - Wefunder loans will be a catalyst to that. Third, there is currently no other debt on the building and the value of the building "as-is" far surpasses the $100,000 Wefunder goal.
- Q: what mode of payment do you accept?
  - A: The Wefunder platform uses a direct electronic payment from your bank account.
- Q: When are payments expected to be made for the promissory note? Every quarter, semi-annually, annually?
  - A: Interest payments will be made annually.
- Q: Is there someone who I could speak to about these investment opportunities. I have not seen a lot of action in recent weeks and wanted to check-in about the campaign and whether or not it was still moving forward.
  - A: Thanks for you interest! Yes we are absolutely moving forward. Our formal Community Launch Celebration will occur in Chicago this Saturday (2-4p starting with tour of The Forum and continuing with a tour of Bronzeville Cookin' and a Q&A session). Please join us if you can. If you can't but have questions please post them here. We will address them as part of the Q&A, which will be posted here.