LG Development Group is adding nearly 200 more apartments to its proposed Fulton Market project and eliminating the office portion. The change comes as the pandemic continues to drive up office vacancy rates and follows a long-standing ban on most residential construction in the trendy district that was scrapped.
LG now wants to build 665 units across two towers at 1143 and 1150 West Lake streets, according to SVN Chicago Commercial.
The developer, which recently closed on the $32.2 million property sale, had planned to construct an 11-story office building and a 20-story tower with 479 apartments.
Those initial plans, which included 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, was filed in July 2019, when the ban on most residential development in the district was still in force. It was lifted in May 2020, with the consent of Alderman Walter Burnett, who had previously opposed the move. He hoped the decision would spur development amid the city’s pandemic-crippled real estate market, Burnett said at the time.
LG had agreed to a deal for the property two years ago at around the same price, contingent on winning city approval for the project.
Sausage-maker ATK Foods owned the property, which includes a 52,000-square-foot building and a vacant parcel. It is one of the last remaining meatpacking sites in the district.
SVN’s Drew Dillon and Scott Maesel represented ATK Foods in the sale.
Developers have remained bullish on Fulton Market despite the pandemic; the area has been so popular that city officials are now considering whether to build a Metra station there.
So far this year, a total of 40 commercial and residential development projects have either been proposed, approved or are in construction in the district, according to SVN.
Maesel said he expects more residential developments, after having been restricted for over 20 years. “There were former meat packing facilities to protect and to not have residential projects conflict with them,” Maesel said, explaining the reason for the holdout. “There are only a handful of remaining meatpackers and it’s most likely going to be replaced with residential towers.”
One of the most prolific developers in the city, Sterling Bay is planning a 282-unit, 29-story mixed-use tower at 160 North Morgan Street.