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McDonald's 'Vendor Village' Will Bring 1,000 Employees To Fulton Market

By Stephanie Lulay | March 31, 2017 1:22pm | Updated on April 3, 2017 8:45am
 Developers broke ground on the 12-story office building in Fulton Market Friday that will house companies that work with McDonald's.
Developers broke ground on the 12-story office building in Fulton Market Friday that will house companies that work with McDonald's.
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Sterling Bay

FULTON MARKET — A new office building that will house companies that work with McDonald's will bring nearly 1,000 new employees to the West Loop, city officials announced Friday. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Sterling Bay developers broke ground on the 12-story office building at West Lake and North Carpenter streets Friday. The $47.2 million project will house 960 employees when it's completed in late 2018 and fully leased. 

“This development is a direct reflection of the confidence businesses have in the future we are building in the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said. 

The 224,354-square-foot building, on busy Lake Street, will be located one block west of the CTA's Morgan "L" stop and one block north of the new McDonald's corporate headquarters, now under construction as the company plans a move from suburban Oak Brook. The new 210 N. Carpenter building will not be owned or directly supported by the McDonald’s corporation.

"We have a number of McDonald's vendors who were in Oak Brook and want to come Downtown," Sterling Bay Principal Andy Gloor said last year. 

RELATED: McDonald's Bringing 2,000 Jobs, 'Iconic' Brand Back To Chicago With New HQ

Designed by Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the transit-oriented development will be clad in brick, glass and aluminum, and will include a rooftop terrace and 40 parking spaces

Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), said the project will create jobs and economic opportunities across the 27th Ward. 

“It will also contribute nearly $2 million to support jobs in areas that need them," Burnett said. 

The $2 million from Sterling Bay will go to the Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus fund for an additional 86,000 square feet of space. The fund allows developers to build bigger and taller projects in an expanded downtown area to support commercial projects in blighted neighborhoods.

The project will also generate about 140 temporary construction jobs, officials said. 

"We are very proud of how this building will fit into the neighborhood, but we are most excited to continue to create jobs and generate economic development in the city and neighborhood we call home," Sterling Bay Principal Dean Marks said.

Sterling Bay originally pitched plans for a 13-story, 186-foot tall building at the Lake and Carpenter site. 

In November, a group of neighbors, called Friends of Fulton Market, worked to block the development. They said the planned building at Lake and Carpenter streets was too tall for the immediate neighborhood and would "dwarf" surrounding historic properties.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel talks with Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) at a groundbreaking event for the 210 N. Carpenter St. project Friday. [27th Ward office]