WEST LOOP — Seemingly undeterred by any pandemic-related slow downs, Fulton Market is poised to welcome hundreds more apartments courtesy of a 33-story tower near the Morgan Green Line station.
Prominent West Loop developer Sterling Bay filed a zoning application to build a transit-oriented high-rise at 160 N. Morgan St. with 320 apartments, 90 parking spaces and 2,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
The proposed tower would replace the former drive-thru South Central Bank building which currently stands just south of Federales restaurant. The single-story structure was recently home to a Burrow House furniture showroom and hosted a psychedelic Gucci pop-up store last year.
At 380 feet, the project at 160 N. Morgan St. would be the neighborhood’s second tallest residential tower west of Halsted Street — eclipsed only by the 495-foot rental building in the works for 906 W. Randolph St.
The city’s affordable housing regulations will require Sterling Bay to provide 20 percent of its apartments at an affordable rate. According to the application, the developer will include 32 affordable units within the new tower and pay to build another 32 affordable apartments off-site.
The proposed Fulton Market high-rise will need a zoning change from the city to move forward. Although the developer declined to provide a timeline for city approvals or construction, Sterling Bay spokesperson Julie Goudie said the company is meeting with local community groups to discuss the project.
The apartments at 160 N. Morgan St. will be Sterling Bay’s first residential development in the West Loop area after spending the last decade focusing on commercial projects like the Google building at 1K Fulton, the Ace Hotel, and the McDonald’s global headquarters (which sold in October for $412 million). The developer has zoning approval for additional office projects in the area including 1200 W. Carroll Ave., 1000 W. Carroll Ave., and 345 N. Morgan St.
Recently, Sterling Bay began to demolish the former Archer Daniels Midland flour mill and silos at the 1300 block of W. Carroll Ave. Despite pleas from preservationists to adaptively reuse the 124-year-old structure, the site will be scraped clean and redeveloped from scratch. Sterling Bay is currently evaluating multiple options for the property that it will share with the community later.
Sterling Bay is also the developer behind the massive multi-phase Lincoln Yards megadevelopment that will rise along the North Branch of the Chicago River between Lincoln Park and Bucktown.
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Already subscribe? Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.