Shapack, CRG Secure $84M Construction Loan

Obtaining a construction loan is like pulling teeth these days, yet a joint venture of Shapack Partners and CRG snagged financing for a new apartment tower in Fulton Market.

The developers received an $84 million loan from Pacific Life Insurance for its planned 29-story, 308-unit project at 220 North Ada Street, Crain’s reported. The construction loan covers about 60 percent of the project’s $140 million estimated cost.

The project, slated to break ground in March, is expected to wrap up by early 2026. It could be one of the few residential developments completed that year due to high interest rates and a tight lending climate drying up Chicago’s construction pipeline.

“A high-interest rate environment and illiquid equity market will make 220 N. Ada St. one of Chicago’s only new residential deliveries in 2026,” Shapack president Paige O’Neil told the outlet. “Capitalization of this project is a testament to the strength of Fulton Market and the conviction our team has in Chicago.”

High rents stemming from limited supply likely bolster the project’s viability, even with presumably less favorable interest rates.

Shawn Clark, the CEO of CRG, hailed Fulton Market as a premier submarket, highlighting its evolution into a thriving commercial real estate hub. Affordable housing developer Bill Williams, founder of KMW Communities, is also a collaborator in the Ada Street development venture.

Shapack acquired the property for $8.5 million in 2018, and the development received City Council approval for the project in April 2022. It’s Shapack’s second residential project in Fulton Market, as the 227-unit Parker Fulton Market was completed in 2016.

The Ada Street tower will feature 12,300 square feet of retail space, and 62 units will be reserved as affordable housing.

Other large apartment projects are underway or being proposed nearby, including luxury high-rises by Trammell Crow and LG Group. New developments have proliferated in the area since 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett lifted zoning restrictions in 2020.

Furthermore, Shapack and CRG are jointly developing a 37-story mixed-use complex at the former Bridgford Foods plant site but are still hunting for financing for that project.

—Quinn Donoghue