Lisa Wogan, director of community impact for J. Jeffers & Co., leads members of GoRockford on a tour Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, of the future Colman Yards in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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1 year after groundbreaking, monumental project makes strides on residential and commercial sides

ROCKFORD — The work to transform a battered and blighted manufacturing site into a vibrant new hub for residences and business has made progress both seen and unseen since breaking ground a year ago.

A drive past the former Barber-Colman complex on South Main Street makes some parts of the work evident: The broken windows and ramshackle interior of the largest building at Rock and Loomis streets has been cleared for a clean slate to rebuild the brick exterior for loft apartment living.

“You can see a world of difference of what it was before and what it is now, and I think it’s getting easier and easier for people to see the vision now,” said Brian Loftin, chief development officer for J. Jeffers & Co., the Milwaukee-based development team behind the project.

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Behind the scenes, J. Jeffers has secured multiple letters of intent from businesses that will occupy the commercial space in the development now known as Colman Yards.

Loftin said there are four letters of intent in place with one remaining for the first phase of the project. That represents about 60,000 square feet of commercial space with all but 11,000 square feet under a letter of intent, he said.

“We are very close on that last 11,” Loftin said.

The names of the businesses — which include service industries such as a cafe and financial institutions — hasn’t been revealed yet, but Loftin said there will be public announcements made when agreements are finalized.

The first phase of the project is on track to welcome its first residents by summer 2025 as scheduled. Preleasing could start as soon as May.

Lisa Wogan, director of community impact for J. Jeffers & Co., leads members of GoRockford on a tour Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, of the future Colman Yards in south Rockford. The group is inside the largest building at Rock and Loomis streets. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Since breaking ground in November 2023, workers have completed the interior demolition and environmental abatement work to prep three historic buildings for residential and commercial use.

They also completed work to clear old underground footings and foundations, as well as a tunnel system, to make way for a new 336-space parking garage.

The $106 million phase 1A involves renovating three historic buildings, including the largest building facing South Main Street, and constructing a new parking deck.

The first residences to open will be 34 loft apartments in what’s known as buildings No. 4 and No. 9 on the 26-acre campus. Once those are complete, J. Jeffers plans to start opening apartments floor-by-floor in the large building at the corner of Rock and Loomis that is most prominently seen from South Main Street.

That building will have 181 apartments, for a total of 215 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments in the first phase of construction.

“The project is restoring pride in the community again,” said Gabrielle Torina, the alderwoman who represents the city’s 5th Ward including Colman Yards. “People are starting to feel that hope that was once lost.”

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Before & Now

The largest structure at Rock and Loomis streets has been cleared after interior demolition, window removal and environmental abatement work to prep the site for construction. Here’s how it looked in early 2023 compared to now.

The interior of the Barber-Colman complex on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

The interior of the future Colman Yards residential development at Rock and Loomis streets on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Torina said the project has the potential to spur growth along the entire south main corridor.

“It has the power to create new opportunity, revitalize our local economy and really showcase what the neighborhood and the area has to offer,” she said. “I’m optimistic that it’s going to bring new job opportunities, stimulate business growth in the surrounding area. I think it’s going to create this ripple effect that’s not only going to benefit just south Rockford but all of Rockford.”

The total project, which would be built over the course of about a decade, could create more than 900 living units and roughly 130,000 square feet of commercial space at an estimated cost of $430 million. It will be financed through a mix of private funding and tax incentives, including River Edge Historic tax credits, a tax-increment finance district and revolving loan funds.

Mayor Tom McNamara said the development will help alleviate some of the housing shortage faced in the city. It will also have other benefits both economic and aesthetic, he said.

“It will open up the banks of the river on that southwest side that really has some of the most beautiful views in our community, but none of us have really ever got to truly see it,” McNamara said.

A smokestack reflects off the water on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, at the future Colman Yards in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

After a tumultuous history with organized labor, 100% of the work being done on site and going forward will be done by union workers, both J. Jeffers and local labor unions said.

That was after a start that included some non-union work, which was met with protests from local labor groups that were staged in front of the complex with the signature inflatable rat.

“We’ve continued to do exactly what we always said we were going to do,” Loftin said. “We’ve continued to do that under the guise of what we negotiated with the city on for over three years before we got to that point, and we are very happy and very excited to have the workforce there.”

The use of union work was a political lighting rod last year as aldermen debated whether to require the developer to reach a deal with organized labor before construction could start. A proposal to mandate a project labor agreement in order for redevelopment to forge ahead was defeated after McNamara cast the tiebreaking vote. The council then voted unanimously to approve a deal to redevelop the property.

Local labor leaders said they now see strong cooperation between the city, J. Jeffers and union workers going forward. The project has been estimated to create roughly 400 full-time equivalent construction jobs, which are all mandated to pay Illinois’ prevailing union wage.

“I always knew, at some point, a project of this magnitude the skilled trader workers had to be there to do it,” said Alan Golden, president of the Northwestern Illinois Building Trades Union. “Now, I’m just looking forward to turning the page and moving forward and going to work.”

John Groh, center pointing, and GoRockford look over a future phase of the Colman Yards project where work has not yet begun on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in south Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas