Two more residential and life sciences buildings greenlighted in Fulton Market

Chicago Plan Commission OKs two proposals

Mike Lafitte (CEO, Trammell Crow Company), Mark A. Goodman (CEO, Mark Goodman & Associates) and renders of residential and life sciences buildings in Fulton Market (Chicago Plan Commission, mgachicago.com, trammellcrow.com)
Mike Lafitte (CEO, Trammell Crow Company), Mark A. Goodman (CEO, Mark Goodman & Associates) and renders of residential and life sciences buildings in Fulton Market (Chicago Plan Commission, mgachicago.com, trammellcrow.com)

A residential and life sciences building project, the two most in-demand projects in Fulton Market, are a step closer to coming to the area.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved a 33-story residential building and a 26-story office building proposed by Trammell Crow Chicago Development at 315 North May Street and 1112 West Carroll Avenue on Thursday. The residential building, rising 370 feet tall, will have 377 units, ground-floor commercial and retail space.

Trammell Crow Chicago Development will provide 76 affordable housing units on site, following the city’s affordable requirements ordinance to make 20 percent of the new residential developments affordable.

The $550 million project started out as two office towers, but the developer converted the building on 1112 West Carroll Avenue to residential after the Plan Commission revised to allow residential developments north of Lake Street in January this year.

Renderings of 400 N. Elizabeth Street (Chicago Plan Commission)

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The Plan Commission also gave the greenlight for a 16-story life sciences building at 400 North Elizabeth Street in Fulton Market. Mark Goodman & Associates proposed to rezone the site to a business planned development from a commercial and manufacturing district. The $150 million project will include about 492,000 square feet of office space and is expected to create life sciences jobs.

Both proposals need the City Council’s final approval before starting construction.

Tech companies have been leading office migrations to the area, and a new market of biotechnology is set to emerge. Sterling Bay broke ground for island eight-story building that will house medical research facilities in Lincoln Yards this week. That building, dubbed Ally, is part of Sterling Bay’s plan to create a “scientific innovation” district.

Office buildings have been battered by the pandemic as vacancy rates climbed to 17.9 percent in the third quarter, according to JLL. While JLL said the rate is driven by sublease space that’s becoming vacant, Fulton Market is an exception. About 785,000 square feet of space has been completed there in the past year, about 30 percent of which is new construction.

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