Slender 51-story skyscraper proposed for Chicago’s Fulton Market

Today, a development team consisting of Related Midwest and Tucker Development filed a zoning application for a 51-story skyscraper just off of Chicago’s Randolph Street ‘Restaurant Row’ in the the West Loop. Slated to deliver 300 units, 220 parking stalls, and commercial space, the tall and slender proposal represents a serious departure from the low and squat buildings that typically have defined the area.

Highland Park-based Tucker Development purchased the site in question along with the majority of the block bounded by Randolph, Sangamon, Peoria, and Lake two years ago and set about rehabbing the existing landmarked low-rise buildings at the west and south side of the site into new commercial space. Known as 900 West, the first phase of the project has already signed retail tenants such as Bonci Pizzeria and Lululemon.

The phase two tower is expected to occupy a 30,000-square-foot, non-landmarked parcel at the center of the site which is currently a parking lot and single-story bow truss building. Tucker had previously considered a 19-story, 260-unit apartment building designed by OKW Architects for this center parcel but changed its plans after joining forces with Related Midwest earlier this year.

According to paperwork filed with the city, the proposed tower would rise 570 feet—eclipsing even the 492-unit project rising along the Kennedy at 727 W. Madison. Despite its extreme height, the development would require a modest bump up in density to 8.1 points of Floor Area Ratio (FAR). In effect, the tower would utilize unused FAR from the block’s low-rise buildings.

The design of the slender structure comes from Morris Adjmi Architects. The New York-based firm’s Chicago portfolio includes Related’s recently opened 30-story Landmark West Loop tower and Shapack Partner’s Hoxton Hotel currently rising at the northwest corner of Lake and Green.

Currently dotted with multiple construction cranes, Chicago’s West Loop has experienced unprecedented interest from real estate developers in recent years. The influx of taller proposals has consistently been met with neighborhood opposition. With residents balking at 20-story developments, the idea of a 51-story skyscraper will likely encounter some resistance. Even if Adjmi’s tower is cut in half, it would still be one of the neighborhood’s tallest buildings west of Halsted.

In addition to the proposed Fulton Market tower, Related Midwest is working on a number of other Chicago projects. The busy developer is erecting the 67-story skyscraper known as One Bennett Park in Streeterville, planning a 145-room hotel tower in collaboration with the Equinox fitness club at the 700 block of W. Randolph, and has recently celebrated a formal ground breaking for the redevelopment of the Julia C. Lathrop Homes along the North Branch of the Chicago River.

If that wasn’t enough, Related has grand plans to redevelop a vacant 62-acre riverfront parcel in the South Loop into Chicago’s newest—and 78th—neighborhood area. The group also controls the high-profile site of the cancelled 2000-foot Chicago Spire project at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive.

• Busy Chicago developer eyes another West Loop project [Curbed Chicago]
• Neighboring Residential Projects Proposed for Fulton Market District [Curbed Chicago]
• West Loop archive [Curbed Chicago]