Upside Foods cultivated meat plant coming to former Allstate campus

Dermody Properties' Logistics Campus in Glenview has gained its first tenant.

Upside Foods, a cultivated meat, poultry and seafood company based in Berkeley, California, recently announced it would build a 187,000-square-foot plant in one of the 10 planned buildings at the former Allstate campus.

To be called "Rubicon," it will be Upside's first large-scale, cultivated meat production plant, with an initial capacity to produce millions of pounds of products annually and the potential to expand to more than 30 million pounds, Upside said in a release.

Founded in 2015 as the world's first cultivated meat company, Upside grows meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells without the need to raise and slaughter animals.

"Dermody Properties is pleased to welcome Upside Foods as its first customer to sign a lease at The Logistics Campus," said Dermody CEO and President Douglas Kiersay Jr. "As a company committed to sustainability, we believe Upside will fit well within the design of the campus."

Upside said it'll invest more than $140 million into Rubicon. The plant will create more than 75 new jobs, the company said, including warehousing, logistics positions, bioprocessing, food processing and other commercial functions.

"Upside Foods will be a great addition to the village's robust and growing local economy," said Glenview Village President Mike Jenny.

The Logistics Campus, to be constructed in three phases, encompasses a planned 10 buildings covering 3.2 million square feet over 232 acres along Sanders Road, south of Willow Road. It is adjacent to Interstate 294 (Tri-State Tollway) on the east. Phase I targeted five buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet.

Dermody purchased the property from the Allstate Corporation for about $232 million.

"I enthusiastically welcome this new facility, which is a significant investment in our community," said state Sen. Julie Morrison of Lake Forest. "Upside Foods' decision to open a facility in Glenview highlights the area's strategic location from a logistics and distribution perspective, alongside its pro-innovation business environment and skilled workforce."