20-story office tower designed for Fulton and Ashland breaks cover

While Chicago’s West Loop has recently exploded with new real estate development, things have been considerably slower to heat up west of Ashland Avenue. A proposal penned by the architects at Brininstool + Lynch hope to jump start the area at the far western edge of Fulton Market with a sleek new office tower. Several renderings on the Chicago-based design firm’s website show a roughly 20-story structure clad in glass on its eastern elevation and what appears to be some sort of metal screening facing west. The base of the tower incorporates several levels of parking while the top is crowned with a large amenity space and outdoor pool.

Known as “AFW” (presumably in reference to Ashland, Fulton, and Walnut that border the site), the proposed tower would replace a surface parking lot immediately west of CB2 headquarters in the Cameron Building at 240 N. Ashland. Both the CB2 property and the AFW site are owned by West Loop developer Peppercorn Capital. Currently zoned as part of a Planned Manufacturing District (PMD), the design will likely require a zoning amendment (and exhaustive meetings with neighbors) if it hopes to make the leap from concept to reality.

• AFW Office Project [Brininstool + Lynch]
• West Loop archive [Curbed Chicago]