Murphy Creek Lane List Fulton Market Office 318 N Carpenter

Chicago developer John Murphy and his partner Creek Lane Capital look to be nearing a lender’s countdown to sell their eight-story Fulton Market office building they constructed.

A joint venture between Murphy’s eponymous firm and Chicago-based Creek Lane hired Cushman & Wakefield brokers Tom Sitz and Cody Hundertmark to market the 104,900-square-foot building at 318 North Carpenter Street, according to a marketing flyer first reported by Crain’s. The developers completed the property in 2020.

The listing follows the maturity of a $43.3 million loan the developers secured from PGIM Real Estate in 2022. The PGIM loan matured in May 2025. It remains unclear if the lender extended the term, but the outlet cited sources who say PGIM is involved in the push to sell. While unpriced, recent downtown office sales suggest the building is worth less than its original mortgage value.

The property is 78 percent leased to nine tenants, with a weighted average lease term of 7.6 years. Logistics software company Flock Freight is the largest tenant, occupying nearly 31,000 square feet, though it recently subleased one floor to artificial intelligence firm Teragonia. The property’s retail space previously faced turbulence when an eviction proceeding by the joint venture derailed jazz club Back Room’s planned 6,000-square-foot revival at the site.

Representatives for Murphy and PGIM did not return requests for comment, and a Creek Lane spokesperson declined to comment, the outlet reported.

Cushman pitches the listing as an opportunity to acquire a discounted asset with in-place income. The sale will gauge investor sentiment in Fulton Market following Spear Street Capital’s recently completed acquisition of an office building at 1201 West Lake Street for about $275 per square foot.

A buyer of 318 North Carpenter faces nearby competition, particularly from the 1K Fulton office building across the street, which is losing at least one tenant, if not two. Bike parts manufacturer SRAM is moving to 550 West Randolph Street, plus Google could leave Fulton Market when its flagship Midwest headquarters is complete at the Loop’s Thompson Center redevelopment, though the tech giant hasn’t confirmed those plans.

This isn’t Murphy’s first time in the post-pandemic office slump with his back against the wall. In October, a DuPage County court issued a consent foreclosure judgment giving Wintrust Bank title to a formerly Murphy-owned office property at 2122 York Road in Oak Brook, public records show. That $22 million foreclosure dispute followed the sudden closure of anchor tenant Oak Point University.

On the residential front, however, Murphy has successfully pivoted. He was able to kickstart One Winnetka, an $89 million luxury rental project in downtown Winnetka that secured $66 million in construction financing after nearly two decades of delay by previous development attempts.

— Sam Lounsberry