Near the Green Line, this Fulton Market apartment plan is adding even more units

In the West Loop, where architects and developers are often required to shrink projects to appease dissatisfied neighbors, one proposal has done the opposite: it’s grown.

LG Development originally pitched two 20- and 22-story towers for the corner of Lake and May streets in July 2019. The latest design instead calls for a single 33-story, 330-foot high-rise. The number of apartments has also increased from 484 to 555—making the transit-oriented proposal one of the largest rental developments in the rapidly changing neighborhood.

According to a presentation posted by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) ahead of the project’s trip to the Chicago Plan Commission, the recent revisions allow for more light and air to reach street level. This sort of change is consistent with the West Loop Design Guidelines, which favor taller, skinnier designs over wider, squatter buildings.

The glassy design comes from architecture firm Gensler (NORR Architects was behind the earlier plan) and uses a more contextual brick cladding at its base. Updated renderings also show a pedestrian-friendly alley lined with retail running below the apartment portion of the project—a similar concept is included in the upcoming development at 167 N. Green.

The zoning application spans two parcels and still includes an 11-story office building slated for the vacant lot across the street at 1050 W. Lake Street. That building was also redesigned by the architects at Gensler.

LG’s two-building project will head to the Plan Commission this month alongside another significant Fulton Market proposal: the Equinox Hotel and apartment development at 725 W. Randolph Street. Developed by Related Midwest, it calls for a 550-foot mixed-use high-rise and a neighboring 250-foot-tall office building.

In January, the commissioners signed-off on three Fulton Market projects including a 25-story apartment tower at 1400 W. Randolph Street, a 16-story office building at 400 N. Aberdeen, and a 21-story hotel development at 800 W. Lake Street.

Courtesy Chicago Department of Planning and Development