A year after a devastating fire at its Chicago Heights factory and warehouse, Morgan Li, which makes fixtures for retail stores and furniture for hotels, said it plans to build a facility on the same site.
The company is headquartered at 383 E. 16th St., about a quarter-mile from the plant that burned, at 1001 Washington Ave.
Plans are to break ground on the 240,000-square-foot building in March, with an anticipated opening in spring 2025, according to Andy Rosenband, chief executive officer.
Morgan Li also has production and warehouse facilities in Matteson and South Holland, and was able to expand its space on Cicero Avenue in Matteson to handle production after the fire, Rosenband said.
He said the company, started by his grandfather, was committed to remaining in Chicago Heights rather than rebuilding elsewhere.
“We have been entrenched in the community for so long,” he said. “We feel like it’s home and it didn’t feel right to relocate.”
Apart from manufacturing and warehouses, with more than 20 loading docks, the new Chicago Heights facility will have a separate 40,000-square-foot painting building for finished product.
Rather than trying to reconfigure already existing space elsewhere, the new building “is going to be built for what we need,” Rosenband said.
“It will be a larger, more functional space,” he said.
The company’s customers include retailers Adidas, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy and Walmart. The privately held company has 245 employees, Rosenband said.
The company bought the Chicago Heights location in early 2022 after leasing space there for many years.
“It was just starting to kick on all gears,” Rosenband said. “After the fire we had to adjust and pick up flex space, which made the transition not impossible but hard.”
He declined to say what the cost will be for the new Chicago Heights location.
“It’s pricey, but doable,” Rosenband said.
Multiple fire departments responded Feb. 6, 2023, to the extra-alarm fire at the Chicago Heights building.
The investigation that followed included the Chicago Heights Fire Department, the Illinois State Fire Marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives.
At the time of the fire, Rosenband said seven of the 67 warehouse employees were there to begin the morning shift.
A year later, Rosenband said the cause of the fire has not been determined.
“Nobody knows to this day,” he said.
Morgan Li is a third-generation family-owned business and Rosenband’s brother, Jonathan, is president. They took over operation of the company in 2009.
Their grandfather, Maurice Rosenband, started the business, then called Par Steel Products & Adjustable Shelving, in Chicago Heights in 1943.
Maurice’s son, Phil Rosenband, saw the company transform into Morgan Marshall in 1987 and its products could be found in Walmart, Old Navy and Lowe’s, according to the company.
Rosenband said while online retailing has diminished the role of bricks-and-mortar stores, companies that started out with an online only shopping experience have realized the value of physical locations.
“There has been a balance,” which in turn has meant more retail opportunities for Morgan Li, he said.
The fire prompted the company to beef up safety measures, including holding more frequent fire drills, and the disaster has helped better the company, Rosenband said.
“The takeaway is that as catastrophic as it was, we grew stronger as a team,” he said. “We feel incredibly lucky in an incredibly unlucky situation.”
