Loop Landmark to Sprout Vertical Farm Research Hub

A long-vacant State Street landmark in Chicago could soon be fostering more than nostalgia.

The eight-story former department store at 401 South State Street — a hulking 485,000-square-foot building steps from the Harold Washington Library — is being pitched as an urban farming and food innovation hub. CoStar reported that local investor Marc Calabria, who bought the property out of distress for $4.2 million last year, is teaming up with vertical farming firm Farm Zero to transform the space into what they describe as a first-of-its-kind controlled-environment agriculture campus.

The plan would carve the historic structure into layers of vertical farming racks, research labs and startup space, alongside a public-facing produce market, restaurants and a rooftop outfitted with greenhouses, solar panels and outdoor dining. Calabria said he also intends to convert a portion of the building into student or senior housing, running parallel to the agriculture project as financing comes together. Total redevelopment costs have not been disclosed.

Farm Zero has already been testing its model in the Loop, growing leafy greens and herbs inside office towers at 30 North LaSalle Street and preparing to expand at 125 South Wacker Drive. The outlet reported that the State Street building would mark a leap from proof of concept to ecosystem, merging food production with health research and entrepreneurship under one roof.

The venture is expected to involve the Institute for Food Safety and Health, a partnership between Illinois Institute of Technology and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as Netherlands-based urban agriculture experts. The goal is to turn underused commercial real estate into local food infrastructure, with an emphasis on “food as medicine” initiatives that tie fresh produce to chronic disease prevention and treatment, according to the publication.

The proposal adds a twist to the office-to-anything trend reshaping downtowns nationwide. While many distressed buildings are being eyed for apartments or data centers, Calabria’s concept hinges on agriculture as adaptive reuse.

The building itself carries architectural heft. Designed by William Le Baron Jenney and completed in 1891, it is both a national and Chicago landmark, having housed Siegel, Cooper & Company and later Sears before becoming an academic facility. Its prior $68 million valuation evaporated after tenant Robert Morris University vacated in 2020. Calabria’s fall 2025 purchase equated to $9 per square foot.

— Eric Weilbacher