Coca-Cola plans to move into an expanded Chicago space in Fulton Market next year in a deal that will give the original Schwinn bicycle factory a new life as corporate space.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has leased two floors, with an option to expand into a third, in the historic Lake Street Lofts building at 910 W. Lake St., the tenant and developer Fulton Street said.
That confirms a CoStar News report from December that the office deal was in the works after Fulton Street and investor Shanna Khan previously planned to convert the late-1800s building into a 140-room, Drift-branded hotel.
The deal for more than 36,000 square feet, and possibly much more, will bring together workers from Coca-Cola and its Chicago-based Fairlife dairy products subsidiary. Coco-Cola is now in 7,400 square feet at 1201 W. Lake St., and Fairlife occupies the entire 16,700-square-foot building at 1001 W. Adams St., according to CoStar data.
In an email Thursday, a Fairlife spokesperson said the company has outgrown its nearby spaces. She said Fairlife will continue to use the Adams Street space even after the larger new space at Lake and Peoria streets opens in the first half of 2026.
Coca-Cola’s commitment added a twist to the ongoing development that includes a ground-up, 11-story office building at 919 W. Fulton and the adjacent Lake Street Lofts building, which will connect to the new structure via a glass atrium.
Fulton Street CEO Alex Najem and Khan — daughter of Shadid Khan, owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and auto parts supplier Flex-N-Gate — have owned the historic Lake Street building, which has an alternate address of 212 N. Peoria St., since buying it for $49 million in December 2022.
The brick-and-timber building was completed in the 1880s, and in 1895 it became the original factory for Arnold, Schwinn & Co.
In recent years, it was converted to an 89-unit apartment building.
Work recently began to convert it to offices, and spaces will be ready for tenant buildouts by late summer, Najem said.
Another look at offices
The deal with Coca-Cola brought the project full circle, Najem said. Najem said he wanted to convert it to offices all along, but the effects of COVID-19 continued to limit demand after taking ownership of the property, leading the developer to explore the hotel plan.
“Once we started to get off-market attention from credit companies, we thought we should take another look at it,” Najem said of the office concept. “With our partner Shanna Khan, we decided that office would be the right path forward, which helped land Coca-Cola.”
He declined to say how much the office conversion will cost, but he said it will cost “significantly less” than the previous hotel plan.
Fulton Street still has significant space to fill at 919 W. Fulton, where it has an anchor office lease with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital and retail deals with fitness chain Equinox and Gibsons Restaurant Group.
That project stood out nationally when it landed $233 million in construction financing, a rarity at a time when many lenders were staying clear of financing office projects.
Najem said leasing activity is increasing across the firm’s properties in the former meatpacking district.
“We think people will want to be in this building [with Coca-Cola] and to be part of the new building, which is connected,” he said.
For the record
The tenant was represented by CBRE brokers Lisa Konieczka and Brian McDonell. The landlord is represented by Madison Rose brokers Matt Pistorio and Adam Pines.