Even an office building built for pandemic realities isn’t immune to tenant downsizing.
Cosmetic laser company Alma Lasers listed its 10,600 square-foot space on the fifth floor of the office building called Fulton East in Chicago’s trendy Fulton Market neighborhood. The lease has three years remaining, according to the Cushman & Wakefield listing for the space.
The downsizing is the first setback for the building at 215 North Peoria Street, owned and developed by Chicago-based Parkside Realty. In 2020, the newly completed Fulton East building made headlines for incorporating high-tech, health-focused amenities to combat the spread of Covid, such as full building air purification, touchless elevators and antibacterial interior paint.
The building’s scale and location were also well-suited to shifts in office trends. At 12 stories and 90,000 square feet, Fulton East is generally easier to fill than the massive skyscrapers languishing in the Chicago loop, like the city’s largest office building, the Willis Tower.
Fulton East first reached full occupancy in June 2023.
Alma Lasers, a subsidiary of Israel-based Sisram Medical Group, hired Chicago-based general contractor Redmond to build out space on the first and ninth floors of the Fulton East building in 2023. The first floor is an Alma-owned MedSpa called Sisram Wellness Center, and the ninth floor serves as space for the company’s corporate offices. Alma later hired Redmond again to build out additional office space on the fifth floor, according to Redmond’s website.
The status of the fifth floor work is unclear. Redmond’s website describes fifth floor construction as completed in 2025, but the Cushman & Wakefield sublease listing posted earlier this month states that the space is “currently under construction.”
Cushman & Wakefield brokers Jeffrey Skender and Jonathan Metzl are representing the landlord. Skender, Metzl and representatives of Alma, Redmond and Parkside did not respond to requests for comment.
Over the past 10 years, Fulton Market has transformed from a meatpacking hub to a mixed-use district filled with loft office space and trendy bars, restaurants and stores. As a result, it leads the city in office leasing, as tenants search for buildings that draw employees out of the home office with amenities and nearby attractions. In the last quarter of 2025, Fulton Market had a 16.8 percent vacancy rate, compared to a 26.6 percent vacancy rate in the city overall, according to CBRE.
Yet, since the pandemic, some tenants have been scaling back in the trendy neighborhood.
Healthcare software company Waystar and employer review platform Glassdoor both listed a combined 63,000 square feet of sublease space in Fulton Market in early 2024.
Other companies that listed sublease space in the neighborhood around the same time included public relations firm WPP, upscale coffee and snack retailer Foxtrot, tech company Hologram, advisory firm Kroll and food packaging company Hazel Technologies.
Still, interest from prospective new tenants remains high.
McLean, Virginia-based candy giant Mars reached an agreement to lease a large space at Trammell Crow’s office building at 400 North Aberdeen Street in Fulton Market last month. Those familiar with the deal said the company is expected to lease over 100,000 square feet of space.