Sterling Bay secured $206 million of financing for a mixed-use office project in Chicago’s Fulton Market, which it broke ground on earlier this month.
The firm scored the loan from Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK for its planned 24-story building at 360 North Green Street in July, Cook County records show. Construction began in July and the project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024, said Sterling Bay spokeswoman Julie Goudie.
The only announced tenant for the building so far is anchor Boston Consulting Group, which closed a deal to occupy about 200,000 square feet. Goudie said Sterling Bay is in advanced talks with other possible tenants. The building will have a total of 490,000 rentable square feet, according to its website.
The project is moving forward in a bifurcated office market as downsizing tenants seek newer, amenity-rich buildings. Class A and trophy offices accounted for 90 percent of new leases in the second quarter, according to JLL, with business concentrated in the West Loop. Fulton Market is the fastest-growing urban office market in the U.S.
Construction on Sterling Bay’s first multifamily project in Fulton Market is also underway. Along with Denver real estate private equity firm Ascentris, the group landed an $81.8 million construction loan from Chicago-based CIBC Bank USA for a 30-story, 2828-unit apartment building and more than 2,600 square feet of retail space at 160 North Morgan Street.
The firm’s biggest ongoing project in Chicago is Lincoln Yards, a 53-acre, $6 billion mixed-use megadevelopment on former industrial land along the North Branch of the Chicago River that will include residential, retail and office space; hotels and restaurants; a life sciences research center; a soccer stadium; a six-acre park and an expansion of The 606 Trail.
Sterling Bay’s previous major projects include Google’s headquarters at 1K Fulton, the 159-key Ace Hotel at 311 North Morgan Street, and the 575,000-square-foot McDonald’s global headquarters at 110 North Carpenter Street. The Chicago firm also has a footprint in Miami, with a 298,000-square-foot creative office and retail building in the Wynwood neighborhood.