Sterling Bay wants to build a 390-unit apartment tower in Fulton Market, the former meatpacking district that the Chicago developer in recent years has helped turn into one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the country.
The firm is proposing the 29-story tower on a 33,721-square-foot site at 370 N. Carpenter St., according to documents submitted to the city. Sterling Bay’s proposal will be formally introduced to the Chicago City Council.
The property is about a block from 1KFulton, the office building that is home to Google’s Midwest headquarters.
Google’s decision to move into the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building as Sterling Bay was starting to redevelop it a decade ago was one of the key moments in the fast rise of the area west of the Loop business district into what, in recent years, became the fastest-growing urban office market in the country. Other office tenants in the area include the global headquarters of McDonald’s and Mondelez International.
The development boom also has encompassed hotels and waves of apartment towers, including other residential projects by Sterling Bay.
Sterling Bay’s latest plan, previously reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, continues a decade-long run of real estate proposals in the area. The run has proceeded even as unexpected hurdles such as COVID-19 and rising interest rates have slowed projects throughout the country.
Other projects in the once-gritty area include Related Midwest’s recently completed The Row Fulton Market, which at 495 feet is the neighborhood’s tallest, and a proposal by Miami-based Crescent Heights to construct an even taller apartment tower at 420 N. May St.
Early this year, CoStar News first reported that New York-based Thor Equities has an approximately $100 million agreement to buy the largest remaining development site in Fulton Market, where it eventually could build multiple towers.
It’s unclear how soon Sterling Bay wants to start construction if its plan is approved by the City Council. A Sterling Bay spokeswoman declined to comment to CoStar News.
A single-story building on the site now, which would be demolished for the new tower, is being used as a leasing center for The Dylan, a 282-unit apartment tower Sterling Bay is close to completing at 160 N. Morgan St.
Sterling Bay also is building a 350-unit apartment tower in the neighborhood at 225 N. Elizabeth St.
The firm also has a few apartment projects planned along Lincoln Yards, its stalled $6 billion mixed-use megadevelopment on the city’s North Side.
Multifamily rents in Chicago have grown 3.6% over the past year, the highest increase among the country's largest markets.