Eli’s Cheesecake has unveiled a newly completed $10 million, 42,000 square foot addition to the west and south sides of its existing facility, located on the northwest side of Chicago. Festivities, including a ribbon cheesecake cutting, the Irish Rovers and the Jesse White Tumblers jumping over a giant cheesecake, began at 11:00 am CST on Tuesday, October 10 at Eli’s Cheesecake World.

The new addition makes Eli’s facility 104,000 square feet, almost doubling the size of the current bakery. This includes Eli’s corporate offices, Eli’s Cheesecake Bakery Café (open to the public) and expanded areas for production and packaging lines, warehousing and welfare.  Five pop art cheesecake themed paintings were created for the space by contemporary artist Carter Kustera.

“10/10 is an auspicious day to celebrate our expansion… legend has it that a pair of tens means you’re on the cusp of something big!” says Marc Schulman, Eli’s president and son of founder Eli Schulman. “In our case it’s the newly completed $10 million, 42,000 square foot addition to the west and south sides of our existing facility, located on the northwest side of Chicago. Increasing capacity means more great desserts and more jobs!”

“Eli’s ingenuity led to the Chicago-style cheesecake four decades ago and today leads to the company’s decision to double down on Illinois,” says Illinois governor JB Pritzker. “I’m pleased to welcome this manufacturing expansion and offer my gratitude to Eli’s for their continued community investment and support.”