The Illinois Institute of Technology has leased research space in Chicago’s Fulton Market district, becoming neighbors with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago and other life science tenants.
The Chicago university and developer Trammell Crow on Friday announced plans for Illinois Tech to open a 34,295-square-foot innovation hub in the 16-story building completed almost two years ago at 400 N. Aberdeen St.
That is just a short walk from another building at 1375 W. Fulton that is part of Trammell Crow’s two-building Fulton Labs campus. In that building, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are investing $250 million to create a research hub where researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign can collaborate.
It is the second hub for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, following one in San Francisco.
“As Chicago's only technology-focused university, Illinois Tech is uniquely positioned to advance cutting-edge innovations, offering a distinctive education and unique research program focused on using science, technology, and design thinking to address global challenges,” Illinois Tech Provost Kenneth Christensen said in a statement.
Illinois Tech’s deal, reported earlier by Crain’s Chicago Business, is the latest step in the city’s attempt to become a top U.S. life science cluster, with the former meatpacking district west of the Loop business district as one of the areas where labs are concentrated.
Chicago is one of several cities trying to become the next big cluster, like ones already well-established in the Boston and San Francisco areas.
Dallas-based Trammell Crow is at the center of those efforts in Chicago, where it also is constructing lab buildings in the Hyde Park neighborhood at the University of Chicago and in Evanston, Illinois, home to Northwestern.
Illinois Tech’s seventh-floor space at 400 N. Aberdeen will be used to expand the school’s research and development efforts, according to the statement.
The school plans to move into Fulton Market by late summer.
“Illinois Tech growing its R&D and innovation presence at Fulton Labs further validates the promise of innovation and access to a wealth of science-forward talent in Chicago,” Trammell Crow Principal Johnny Carlson said in the statement. “The University will be able to catalyze innovation within the neighborhood, where many other prominent ecosystem drivers, like Portal Innovations and the Chan Zuckerberg BioHub, have recently established a presence.”
Illinois Tech's main campus is on the city's South Side near Guaranteed Rate Field, home to MLB's Chicago White Sox.
For the Record
The tenant was represented by JLL brokers Max Zwolan and Scott Brandwein. The landlord was represented by CBRE broker Dan Lyne. IIT’s space is designed by Perkins & Will, and it will be built by Power Construction.