Sterling Bay Pursues 29-story Fulton Market Apartment Tower

Sterling Bay is making its next multifamily move in the thriving Fulton Market District.

The developer is proposing a new 29-story apartment tower at 370 North Carpenter Street, according to a zoning application set to be presented to the Chicago City Council this week, Crain’s reported. The new project comes on the heels of Sterling Bay’s completion of another 29-story Fulton Market housing building at 160 North Morgan Street, which expects to welcome its first tenants next month.

The new project — set to rise on the site of a 10,400-square-foot building that Sterling Bay acquired for $4 million in 2013 — will contribute to the ongoing transformation of the former meatpacking district into a hub of corporate offices, upscale hotels, and dining establishments.

Since a residential development ban north of Lake Street was lifted in 2020, Fulton Market has experienced a swell of apartment construction. By the end of June, almost 1,400 new units were under construction, all slated to be finished by the end of 2024.

The proposed building on Carpenter Street, one block north of Google’s Midwest headquarters, will feature 390 apartment units, 156 parking spaces, and 6,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

The project will include 78 units considered affordable to households making certain fractions of the area median income to comply with Chicago’s affordable housing ordinance. The average income of tenants in those units cannot exceed 60 percent of the Chicago area’s median income.

Sterling Bay’s bet on Fulton Market doesn’t stop here. They are also on track to complete a 28-story Fulton Market apartment building at 225 North Elizabeth Street early next year and have recently gained City Council approval for a mixed-use residential building rising 40 stories at 1300 West Carroll Avenue.

Sterling Bay explored selling the Carpenter Street development site in 2021, when it’s estimated it could have fetched around $17 million, according to the publication, but the firm ultimately decided to retain the property.