An office tower in Chicago's Fulton Market District was approved Thursday by the Chicago Plan Commission according to Chicago Curbed. This 13 story building will be the first to include a city mandated affordable retail component aimed at keeping local businesses in the area.
There will be a parking lot at the southeast corner of Fulton Market and Ogden Avenue and will have at least some of its 15,000 square feet of ground retail space below market rate.
The 315,000 square foot office building was first proposed as an 18 story, 315 unit apartment tower. The plans were later changed by Developer Trammell Crow when local Alderman Walter Burnett Jr. placed a memorandum on residential projects north of Lake Street.
This could set an example for future Fulton Market developments to include an affordable option for smaller shops and restaurants to remain in Fulton Market which was formerly a meatpacking district but is quickly becoming a very expensive area. After Google and McDonald's moved into the area, the rents went up and a number of long time retailers, especially restaurants, closed their doors.
Besides this office development being approved at the August meeting, several other projects were also approved including a four story office building in Ravenswood, a recycling facility along the Calumet River, an addition to the Chicagoland Laborers' District Council Training and Apprentice Fund Building in North Austin and the adaptive reuse of an old industrial building at 875 W. Kinzie Avenue into a restaurant.
Click here to access the details of these projects and many others.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, Trammell Crow will contribute $2.7 million into the pot of money to share the wealth with impoverished South and West Side neighborhoods.
"We appreciate the fact that the developer is going to participate in the streetscape that's happening on Fulton Street. We also commend them for having a part of their retail space as an affordable component, which is going to allow for some local businesses to remain in the area."
Alderman | Walter Burnett Jr.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is bringing back the disbanded Department of Housing and proposing many programs to help longtime residents stay in gentrifying neighborhoods per the West Loop Report. He is hoping that this new office development will be the beginning of a trend to keep rents affordable for small business in the area also.
Databid Inc. is currently tracking this project. See Project No. 0042092816 - West Fulton Market Office Tower Fulton Market.