Tall & Urban News

Developers Tweak Plans for Tallest Tower in Chicago’s Fulton Market

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chicago_170_peoria_gn-2
29 March 2018 | Chicago, United States

A pair of developers hoping to build the tallest tower in the Fulton Market District of Chicago have cut down their plan by eight floors in a move they hope will win the support of the West Loop community.

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Nearly two months after Chicago-based Related Midwest and Highland Park-based Tucker Development unveiled their plan to put a 51-story high-rise with 300 condominiums at 170 N. Peoria St. in the fast-changing neighborhood, the duo on March 27 showed a community group and Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, a revised version with larger floor plates to maintain capacity but with the building’s height reduced to 43 stories.

The development would retain elements from the earlier proposal, including a 300-space garage and 92,000 square feet (8,547 square meters) of retail and office space across 10 revamped historic buildings at the base of the high-rise on the 900 block of West Randolph Street.

The new proposal is a response to feedback from community members about a structure that would dwarf its surrounding buildings and potentially change the character of a neighborhood full of historic low-rise structures.

By reducing the building’s height and working more open space into the plan for the block, Related and Tucker are betting they can earn the blessings of various West Loop community groups and the alderman—prerequisites to getting an OK from the City Council to move forward.

“We feel we’ve created a unified vision that responds to feedback from local stakeholders, continues to maintain compliance with the West Loop Design Guidelines and enhances the West Loop through numerous public benefits,” Related said in a statement. The plan also includes the addition of a new landscaped area at the gateway to the Fulton Market District near Halsted and Randolph streets and a $4.9 million contribution to the city’s neighborhood opportunity fund, which is used to support commercial projects in neighborhoods that lack major private investment.

The Related-Tucker venture began pursuing its plan to add height to the West Loop last year after the Chicago Department of Planning and Development released a set of guidelines for the neighborhood stating that the city “should encourage taller, thinner buildings with substantial setbacks” from the street in new developments there. Those guidelines were concocted with input from West Loop aldermen and community groups.

The proposed glass and steel high-rise offers the first test the limits of those new guidelines and, if it wins community approval, could reset standards for developments in the area.

One of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood today is the 29-story Parker Fulton Market luxury apartment tower. A couple of blocks north of that site, developer Sterling Bay has proposed a trio of buildings that would stand at 19, 20 and 21 stories, respectively. The Related-Tucker building would not only rise far higher than all of those, but would also be farther west, where it would stand out among a swath of squat historic buildings.

Community group Neighbors of West Loop posted online last night that the West Loop Community Organization—an official delegate agency for the area that makes recommendations to aldermen about development proposals—requested more time to review the proposal before holding more formal community meetings about the project.

While Related awaits the community’s response, the developer is sitting on another proposal for an even taller hotel and apartment building—58 stories—at 725 W. Randolph St. overlooking the Kennedy Expressway. The developer would need community support and a zoning change for that development as well.

For more on this story, go to Crain’s Chicago Business.