Ten-story Fulton Market office proposal returns with new design

A proposal from developer Fulton St. Cos. for a ten-story office building at 917 W. Fulton Market is back with a revised design from New York-based Morris Adjmi Architects. The building's updated look was revealed Thursday at the Commission on Chicago Landmarks Permit Review Committee, which must approve the design due to its location within the historic Fulton-Randolph Market District.

The reworked proposal features a similar massing, but swaps the red-colored masonry of its predecessor for brownish brickwork. The prominent vertical piers of the previous design (which were evocative of Chicago's Merchandise Mart) have also been reworked to be less pronounced, resulting in a facade with less depth. The upper floors are set back from the street to lessen the building's visual impact from ground level and now step down more along Fulton. The top portion of the structure is clad in a more contemporary glass and metal skin.

The development also proposes to rehab the existing loft offices located next door at 900 W. Lake Street and connect to the neighboring 1880s-era building via a glass-topped atrium featuring a series of "sky bridges" between the two structures. The earlier iteration of the project showed a deliberate exterior gap between the new and the old buildings, but this element was dropped after Landmarks raised concerns about how it would fit into the design context of the historic district, according to designers.

"During some of the earlier schemes we had really articulated the emphasis between the new construction and the historic building and we wanted to celebrate that," said MA architect Lucas Posada. "We got some feedback and responded by analyzing if [the earlier design] was the most congruous move within the historic context of the district. We agreed with the Landmarks Commission that it was a more appropriate response in this type of urban historic context to have the two buildings right next to each other and share that party [wall] condition." 

The development replaces a parking lot and vacant parcel at the corner Fulton Market and Sangamon that was previously home to a two-story industrial building. The proposed office complex tops out at 153 feet and contains 80 parking spaces in a below-ground garage topped by  17,860 square feet of retail fronting Fulton and Sangamon, and 372,662 square feet of office, according to the developer's zoning application.

Although the Permit Review Committee signed off on 917 W. Fulton, the West Loop development still needs zoning approval from the city to move forward. The project's Planned Development application is scheduled to go before the Chicago Plan Commission later this month. If approved, the measure would then go before the Committee on Zoning and full City Council. Once Fulton St. Cos. breaks ground, the development is expected to take 18 months to complete.