West Loop developer Sterling Bay is buying the Archer Daniels Midland wheat mill and replacing the old Fulton Market structure with a new Metra rail station according to Chicago Curbed. The company is examining different options to bring a stop for Metra's Milwaukee West, Milwaukee North, North Central Service and Union Pacific West lines to the site at 1300 W. Carroll Avenue. This type of transit link would further cement the former meatpacking district's role as an emerging hot spot for office, hospitality and residential development.
It is still unclear if the developer plans a stand-alone platform or a station combined in a new building. The site in question is across the street from Sterling Bay's headquarters and a block away from a 13 story office proposal approved by the Chicago Plan Commission earlier this month.
A Sterling Bay representative thinks there is a possibility of a future neighborhood Metra stop in January at a community meeting to consider a trio of new office towers along Green Street. A linear park next to the tracks might even be considered for one of the parcels and could act as a east-west pedestrian connection if the station comes to fruition.
Sterling Bay will be paying $25 million for the 2.2 acre site. ADM will still continue operating the Chicago facility until their new mill opens in LaSalle County in 2019. The ADM mill was built in 1897 and the original owner was B. A. Eckhart Milling.
Sterling Bay also has plans for a $5 billion mixed-use Lincoln Yards proposal on 53 acres of land along the Chicago River's North Branch. Plans include replacing the existing Clybourn platform with a new multimodal complex, connecting cyclists, rail commuters, CTA buses, private shuttles and water taxi passengers.
Per the Chicago Tribune, many commuters who work in Fulton Market depend on shuttle buses and other modes of transportation between their offices and commuter train stations east of the expressway.
"We agreed a new Metra station in this area could contribute additional transportation options to Chicago-area workers without adding to the existing traffic and congestion on Chicago's streets and expressways. We also noted that any exploration of a potential new station would need to consider impacts on Metra's existing operations and operating and maintenance costs as well as be cognizant of our limited funding. We would look to the city or others to provide or identify funding for a new station if we determined to build one."
Metra Spokesman | Michael Gillis
Sterling Bay is going to demolish the brick structure on the site which ranges from three to six stories tall and includes several silos. Sterling Bay's director of development services said the firm supports long running efforts to create a Metra station, "further strengthening the expansion of the central business district and the job creation the neighborhood is promoting."
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