A group of Chicago developers is set to start construction of a 308-unit apartment tower in the Fulton Market district after landing an $84 million loan for a project that provides the latest example of the high-demand neighborhood rising above a challenging financing landscape throughout the country.
Shapack Partners and CRG on Wednesday announced plans to begin work on the 29-story tower at 220 N. Ada St. next month. Their statement did not say how the project is being financed, but someone familiar with the project said the firms recently secured an $84 million construction loan.
The announcement comes amid a slowdown in real estate sales and developments because of rising interest rates, high construction costs and other factors.
“A high-interest-rate environment and illiquid equity market will make 220 N. Ada St. one of Chicago’s only new residential deliveries in 2026,” Paige O’Neil, president of Shapack, said in the statement. “Capitalization of this project is a testament to the strength of Fulton Market and the conviction our team has in Chicago.”
It is the latest example of the former meatpacking area west of the Loop business district largely rising above broader market conditions.
Other examples include a rare office groundbreaking at 919 W. Fulton by a team of developers led by local firm Fulton St. after securing a $233 million construction loan to build the 409,000-square-foot future headquarters of Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.
At a groundbreaking event in November, Fulton St. CEO Alex Najem said the same group of investors — which includes JDL Development and lead equity investor Shanna Khan of SNK Capital — looks to kick off a three-building, approximately 1,300-unit residential development in the neighborhood by late 2024.
Related Midwest recently completed the tallest tower in Fulton Market, the 495-foot, 300-unit The Row Fulton Market, and several other firms have big multifamily projects underway or planned in the area. Mark Goodman & Associates recently said it is shifting plans away from a life science research building at 400 N. Elizabeth St., instead seeking a zoning change to build two apartment towers with a combined 724 units.
Just south of Fulton Market, Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega’s real estate investment firm in August paid $231.5 million for the 44-story, 492-unit apartment tower at 727 W. Madison St. The acquisition by Zara's founder was the highest-priced multifamily sale of last year in Chicago.
The wave of apartment projects comes after Fulton Market in recent years emerged as the fastest-growing urban office market in the country, according to a CoStar analysis.
“Fulton Market is one of the leading submarkets in the country and has established itself as a live, work, play, stay neighborhood within Chicago,” CRG CEO Shawn Clark said in the statement. “Development starts are hard to come by these days, and we are excited to bring much-needed housing to one of the strongest innovation districts in the country.”
The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower on Ada Street will include 62 units with affordable rents and 12,300 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Shapack and CRG will partner with Bill Williams, founder and principal at Chicago development firm KMW Communities, according to the statement.
The development team plans to demolish a one-story warehouse on the 27,244-square-foot site in February, with groundbreaking for the 314-foot-tall tower set for March, the firms said.
Shapack bought the former Leslie Hindman Auctioneers site for $8.5 million in 2018, according to Cook County property records.
The firm led by Jeff Shapack was an early investor in Fulton Market’s emergence as an office, hotel and residential area. Shapack’s projects have included the Soho House private club and hotel, the Hoxton Hotel, the Parker Fulton Market apartment tower and the 17-story office tower at 167 N. Green St.
CRG is the development and investment arm of construction firm Clayco. Shapack and CRG also are working together on a big, mixed-use project planned on the former Bridgford Foods site at 170 N. Green St., which gained city zoning approval in 2022.