McDonald’s HQ neighbors look to benefit from Fulton Market boom

Sterling Bay is among property owners seeking to cash in

A rendering of McDonald's new HQ in Fulton Market (Credit: Sterling Bay)
A rendering of McDonald's new HQ in Fulton Market (Credit: Sterling Bay)

Two properties are for sale near the new McDonald’s headquarters in the booming Fulton Market district, including one that’s home to the offices of Sterling Bay, developers of the burger giant’s new corporate home.

McDonald’s is moving to the new 600,000-square-foot HQ at 110 North Carpenter Street this spring from Oak Brook. The owners of the two properties nearby are the latest looking to cash in on rising values in Fulton Market, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Sterling Bay has hired Newmark Knight Frank brokers Andy Gallas and Gino Tabbi to market the former First Chicago Bank & Trust building it owns at 1040 West Randolph Street. Sterling Bay plans to move its offices from the building — across the street from the McDonald’s complex — into a nearby office building it developed. Aspen Dental Management recently announced plans to open a 250-employee office after Sterling Bay moves out, and the property’s zoning would allow the buyer to build a structure four times as big as the current one.

Madison Capital also has hired Gallas and Tabbi to sell a property at 328 North Carpenter Street, two blocks from McDonald’s. The New York-based firm already has city approval to knock down the former Sam’s Meat Co. warehouse and replace it with a seven-story, 96,000-square-foot office and retail building, according to the Tribune. It bought the building along with partner ASB Real Estate Investments of Washington, D.C., as part of a $26 million, four-building deal in 2015.

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The brokers have distributed marketing material on both properties to investors but neither lists an asking price. Sterling Bay bought the Randolph Street building out of bankruptcy for about $4.7 million in 2012, then made extensive renovations.

Once primarily a meatpacking district, Fulton Market has been undergoing a massive transformation into a home of restaurants, bars, businesses and offices. It includes Google’s Midwest headquarters, one of Sterling Bay’s many other projects in the neighborhood. It is among the sites city officials included in their bid to Amazon to bring its coveted HQ2 to Chicago. [Chicago Tribune] — John O’Brien