By Atavia Reed, Block Club Chicago | June 16th, 2026 (Click Here For Original Article)
ENGLEWOOD — Dozens of neighbors, organizers and local leaders gathered Monday to celebrate the groundbreaking of The Re-Up at 59th and Racine — a $6.4 million investment set to transform a desolate corner. 
Jazz maestro Ernest Dawkins and crew provided the soundtrack while neighbors danced and feasted at Another So Fresh, an event hosted by the Resident Association of Greater Englewood — known as R.A.G.E. — to kick off Juneteenth week and commemorate a construction milestone at the space. 
R.A.G.E. is converting the former Leon’s Bar-B-Q at 1158 W. 59th St. into The Re-Up at 59th and Racine, a mixed-used commercial development. The 14,390-square-foot, two-floor hub will be the new headquarters for R.A.G.E., and it will offer additional space for businesses and offices that want to “sink their teeth into the magic that’s happening here in Englewood,” Executive Director Asiaha Butler said. 
The Re-Up at 59th and Racine “continues our mission of doing work for the community, by the community,” Butler said. “I’m excited by the progress that we’ve made so far, the investments that we have, and to share our story. I’m just in awe.”
The Re-Up will open in early 2027, Butler said. Local company Francis Construction Group is fabricating the space. 
Spot 2, a second location of Spot Bistro — one of Englewood’s only sit-down restaurants — could also operate in the mixed-use development as Butler said the restaurant has expressed interest. 
Butler announced in 2023 R.A.G.E.’s plan to revive the former Leon’s and create a dining destination at the corner of 59th and Racine. At the time, three restaurateurs submitted letters of interest for the space, but their plans changed as the project faced “unpreventable delays,” Butler previously said. 
R.A.G.E. acquired the abandoned building that same year from the Cook County Land Bank Authority for $35,000. The Land Bank had owned the building since 2020 after property taxes for the Englewood building became delinquent in 2017, said Executive Director Jessica Caffrey. 
After partnering with the Englewood organization to remodel a vacant home and award vacant lots to neighbors, the Land Bank was “proud” to unite again, Caffrey said. 
R.A.G.E. “provides the vision, [and] we have the inventory,” Caffrey said. 
Local projects developed at the corner of major street intersections — like the Re-Up — are “critical” because they help define a community, “including where it’s been and where it’s going,” said Ciere Boatright, commissioner of the city’s Department of Planning and Development. 
Development for The Re-Up at 59th and Racine is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund — a “Robin Hood” program where Downtown construction fees are diverted to neighborhood investment projects, Boatright said.
“Kudos to Aisha Butler and the R.A.G.E team for leveraging the fund, its remarkable vision, this amazing project and its unyielding commitment to Greater Englewood because The Re-Up is more than a building — it’s a mission that ultimately makes the city a better place to live, work and raise families,” Boatright said. 
Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony was “a transformational moment” for Englewood, said Mayor Brandon Johnson. The Re-Up at 59th and Racine will “breathe new life” into the community, he said. 
“This kind of development and revitalization doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Johnson said. “It happens when communities come together, demand action and through new collaborations and bold partnerships. And it happens through a desire to build a city where everyone, no matter their ZIP code, can achieve their dreams and access these opportunities.”
When R.A.G.E. began its efforts in Englewood 15 years ago, members realized “we are our own solution,” Butler said. Members started their work on their blocks, buying and repurposing vacant lots into gardens and pocket parks. 
R.A.G.E. kept “thinking bigger” and partnered with other local organizations to buy the former Woods Elementary at 6206 S. Racine Ave. The Regenerator, a $26.6 million affordable housing and community center development, will soon open at the long-vacant school. 
When eyeing the former Leon’s building, R.A.G.E. saw “a canvas for development,” Butler said. 
Whenever someone believes the organization is “too crazy, that we can’t do it … we see vision, we see an opportunity,” Butler said. 
“A lot of seeds that R.A.G.E. planted, started, founded or created are still growing. Today, we’re planting something more.”