Steinberg estimates 2 million square feet could feed Chicago residents
Chicago entrepreneur Russell Steinberg is growing edible greens in vacant downtown offices through FARMZER0, according to an NPR report published Nov. 3, 2026. FARMZER0 delivers its greens to restaurants, caterers, other office buildings and people living in nearby high-rises.
FARMZER0’s approach links downtown office vacancy with food production and local delivery. Northwestern University professor Kimberly Gray said vertical farming could bring fresh produce to urban communities in a way that is probably cheaper and could reduce the “last mile” in the delivery of goods and services.
The pandemic reshaped where people worked and left many offices vacant. Years after restrictions subsided, downtown business districts remained less busy than before, and the return to office brought only a partial recovery in cities such as Chicago.
Al Orendorff reported from one of downtown Chicago’s office towers. Steinberg, FARMZER0’s founder and CEO, said, “There’s a line of sight on solving some really complicated problems, three of them specifically - office vacancy, public health crisis and food system challenges.”
FARMZER0 uses empty downtown office space to grow edible greens, then delivers them to restaurants, caterers, other office buildings and people who live in nearby high-rises. Steinberg said the only prerequisite for the company is vacant space.
Steinberg said Chicago has about 45 million square feet of vacant space. He estimated that 2 million square feet of that space would need to be converted to feed everyone in the city adequate vegetables. NPR reported a roughly 25% to 30% vacancy rate in Chicago’s downtown business district following its post-pandemic recovery.
Steinberg said much of the vacant space is in older office buildings, whose infrastructure makes them harder to repurpose. Newer commercial space accounts for some vacancies too, but because it is newer, it is more easily reused. At the FARMZER0 location Orendorff visited, the plan for repurposing commercial space uses about 650 square feet of vacant office area.
Water always runs to hydrate the plants, but Steinberg said the operation uses less water than might be used in a fully functioning office. The site is remarkably quiet except when someone brings out scissors to harvest.
FARMZER0’s produce is part of what Blue Plate Chicago’s catering service sells. Chef Matthew Wilde sees the business association with vertical farming as a win-win. Wilde said, “They’re utilizing space in downtown Chicago that would otherwise be vacant, and, you know, they’re growing a really clean farm-to-table green in an urban setting, which is really cool.” He called the product high-quality and said supporting local farms, even in an urban setting, was important to Blue Plate.
Dr. Kimberly Gray, a Northwestern University civil and environmental engineering professor who has researched how cities can and should reinvent themselves, considers vertical farming a viable, more climate-friendly option as metro areas around the country rethink their future. She said, “I think what it can do is it can bring fresh produce to urban communities in a way that’s probably cheaper. It can reduce this notion of the last mile. So the delivery of goods and services in urban settings can be highly polluting.”
Steinberg has received inquiries from a number of cities about replicating the high-rise farming idea. He hopes to partner with city officials in Los Angeles to “cook up something special” for the 2028 Olympics.