One World Enterprises is undergoing change once again.
What started as a pizza shop then added a restaurant and later a brewpub. That expanded to include a catering business, and a commissary that provided kitchen space for all the restaurants owned by One World as well as people who had startup businesses that needed a certified commercial kitchen. The commissary was located on Rogers Street in a space rented from CFC Inc.
More change occurred earlier this month when One World moved into the 39,000-square-foot building off the Ind. 45/46 Bypass just west of Arlington Heights Elementary School on Rappel Avenue. Newly mowed areas near the building and contractors walking in with cases of tools are a common sight at what is now known as One World KitchenShare.
Inside, co-owner Jeff Mease, with coffee cup in hand, eagerly shows off the different work areas in the vast building. “This was kind of beyond our means,” Mease explained, “but it was a good value if we could figure out how to use all the space.”
The building houses a large commercial kitchen where all the dough used for pizzas at Pizza X and Lennie’s is made in huge stainless-steel mixers that churn water and flour to make 200 pounds of dough. Nearby, the tomato sauce used for some of the pizzas simmers, filling the air with thoughts of pepperoni and cheese.
But the thoughts of Mease and co-owner Lennie Busch were more about how to make this building work, not only for One World Enterprises but for other food-related businesses. As Mease explains, he and Busch purchased the building and now receive payments from Pizza X, Lennie’s and other businesses to help pay the mortgage.
There are five rooms food-related businesses can lease to create a space to fit their needs. Some clients include Bloomington Bagel Co., Delish By Design and UGo Bars. Each space has its own utilities that the client will pay for, but they also have use of shared space in other parts of the expansive building. That includes a lounge area and a small conference room that can seat 10 to 12 people.
“Our own business is an anchor tenant here,” Mease said. “It allows us to keep the prices lower here.” He estimates the commercial kitchen space at One World KitchenShare has one of the lowest rental costs in the Midwest, saying it’s about half of what others charge.
“It’s the largest shared kitchen concept of its kind, at least in the Midwest,” he said. “We’re going to impact the local food community for decades.”
Tracy Gates, with UGo Bars, watches as electricians work in her new space. “We’re on a budget,” she explained, but she is very excited about the new space and how it will allow her business to grow further. “This is affordable and allows us an opportunity to emerge,” she said.
Gates plans to redo the packaging on the minimally processed UGo bars, and hopes to add new flavors. That’s possible because of the new workspace. “We can now mass produce granola,” she said. Until now, the granola has been available to Bloomington and online customers, but that will soon change.
Other possibilities
Besides areas that can be leased, the new complex has gleaming stainless-steel countertops in three commercial kitchens located beside One World’s kitchen area. Each area is equipped with two prep tables, a mixer, dish sink, prep sink and all the kitchen gadgets needed to cut, cook and prepare food. There are gas ranges, a dough rising proofer, convection ovens, food processors and a deep fryer. Nearby is a freezer where clients can rent a shelf, and there’s another dry-goods area with shelves they can rent to store items. The kitchens are open for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Startup companies are welcome to rent the space, and to look around and learn from others. “It’s a way to explore,” Mease explained.
He hopes area food trucks will use part of the space he set up with prep and cleanup areas, a place to dump gray water, sinks where they can access sanitary water and a plug-in station where they can access electricity for their units. Already Uel Zing Coffee, the Big Cheeze, Rasta Pops and others are planning to rent space.
Mease smiles as he talks about how all the commercial and noncommercial clients in the building can share — share the cost of trash, of recycling, of WiFi, of a loading dock, of pest control, of the necessary grease interceptor, of bathrooms.
And they can share ideas. There is a cafeteria area where Mease hopes everyone in the building will gather at lunchtime, to share bread and talk. “My goal is to have ‘family lunch’ every day,” he said. “The last thing I want is a mass exodus at lunch to McDonald’s.”
At those lunches, clients can share about their products, eat lunch for a nominal cost and collaborate. “Each client is invited,” Mease said. As far as the cost, Mease waves his hand, saying, “We’ll figure it out.”
Then he relates how one of the clients at the commissary on Rogers Street noticed a way another client could waste less of their product by using a different type of baking pan. That information, shared with the other business, has allowed them to save 6 percent of each pan of brownies by not having to cut the edges off.
“That kind of stuff can happen,” Mease explained. “You don’t even know the questions to ask. There are these things we don’t know we don’t know.”
To that end, Mease also has several rooms on the second floor that he hopes to eventually use as classrooms, to further allow people to share what they know with others.
One World KitchenShare is at 2361 W. Rappel Ave. For more information, go to www.bloomington.com/kitchenshare.