A Long-Shuttered Firehouse in Chicago’s Historic Bronzeville is Providing New Kinds of Protection to City Residents
Halo Security Group has moved into the renovated 9,000-square-foot space with support from an acquisition loan from LISC. In business for more than a decade, it employs 100 unarmed guards who work with residential communities, businesses, health facilities and schools, providing security services and on-site safety training.
By purchasing the vacant property, Halo is returning the old stationhouse to productive use, while also bringing commercial activity to the surrounding community, which is a federally designated Opportunity Zone. The new location provides space for the business to grow and support jobs that stretch throughout the city.
Halo is a minority- and veteran-owned enterprise established by current and retired law enforcement officers and notable for the creative ways it leverages technology to support its clients and its staff. The new facility offers the team a large, inviting space as well as a number of competitive advantages over its prior location. It is just blocks from a major expressway, is adjacent to a city “L” train line with a nearby stop, and is just a few miles south of the city’s downtown core, making it well-positioned to service communities throughout the city and suburbs.
LISC designs its small business loans, like the one to Halo, to fill a gap in the conventional market. “Small business lending can be difficult, even under the best of circumstances,” said Steve Hall, senior director for economic development and small business. “Even without the economic impact of COVID-19, many small businesses don’t fit within the underwriting parameters of mainstream lenders, and that’s especially true of entrepreneurs of color and owners operating in low-income communities.”
For LISC, those very communities and enterprises are its primary focus, he noted—noting that conventional lenders often partner with LISC to help them reach underserved markets. “This is our business—financing economic opportunity for families, businessowners and communities that don’t have adequate access to the kind of capital they need,” he said. “These are good investments, both from the perspective of financial performance and impact, even if they don’t fit in traditional underwriting models.”
In its new space Halo is expanding its outreach to new clients, including connecting with municipal agencies in the region that need augmented security for offices and events, once pandemic restrictions are lifted.
It’s a fitting next chapter for the iconic red brick firehouse—protecting people and property and supporting its surrounding community as well.