Marquette Management kicked off construction of the Evo Union Park apartment building in Chicago a few months into a global pandemic, on a site along the far western reaches of the fast-growing Fulton Market district.
Those pioneering moves, and the developer’s ultimate success in completing, leasing up and selling the 242-unit building, earned Marquette a CoStar Impact Award for 2023, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Naperville, Illinois-based Marquette began construction in fall 2020, a few months into COVID-19. Although Fulton Market already was years into a construction boom, the site at 1454 W. Randolph St. was unproven, along the edge of the former meatpacking district.
The worst of the pandemic was over by the time the first residents moved into Evo Union Park in February 2022. The building is more than 85% leased, and Marquette sold a majority stake in the building to Pacific Life Insurance for $103.5 million in October 2022. Marquette still manages the property.
About the project: The 11-story building sits along the northeast portion of Union Park. Features include an oversized pool with a sundeck and cabanas, a rooftop courtyard with lounge seating and grills, coworking lounges, game rooms, an outdoor dog run and a pet spa.
What the judges said: “Evo Union Park has been able to achieve $3.85-plus per-square-foot per month in an area on the boundary of Fulton Market and a heavy industrial area,” wrote judge Eric Turrin, managing partner at North Park Ventures. “Marquette has gone out on a limb.”
They made it happen: The project was led by Marquette’s Darren Sloniger and Ann Reckelhoff.
