Boom Baby: Checking in on the West Loop

New construction has made a comeback — and nowhere in the city is that more apparent than the West Loop, where cranes have seemingly taken over the skyline. Formerly a warehouse district and the hub of the meatpacking industry in Chicago, a combination of factors has driven property demand (and prices) skyward. With a robust nightlife and restaurant scene, a good variety of housing inventory, and an ever-growing cadre of businesses and shops, the West Loop is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the city today.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

West Loop has a lot going for it. Sweeping views of the Chicago skyline from across the river give residents and visitors the feeling of being immersed in, yet still independent of the hustle and bustle of the Loop. The proximity to the Kennedy and Eisenhower expressways, Union and Ogilvie Stations, and the Loop has made it an attractive neighborhood for those who work in the city as well as the suburbs. And, with a walk score of 96, a transit score of 100 and a bike score of 87, the West Loop is highly accessible for both residents and visitors who want to want to be part of the action. At the heart of the West Loop is West Randolph Street, known around the country as a major foodie destination (in fact, in May, Conde Nast Traveler named Chicago the Best Restaurant City in the Country, thanks in large part to the West Loop). But before it hosted the best burger in the U.S. (Au Cheval) and Top Chef Stephanie Izard’s restaurant empire (Duck, Duck, Goat, Girl & the Goat, Little Goat), Randolph Street Market was a trade area. As restaurants have moved in, followed closely by trendy shops both local and national in scope, hotels, and corporate headquarters, the industrial warehouses, wholesale markets and factories have slowly dissipated to other areas around the city. Even though the West Loop now claims Aesop and Free People amongst its retail offerings and is the headquarters for Google’s Chicago office and McDonald’s corporate campus, the success of West Loop began with the restaurant boom. Residents have flocked to the neighborhood from all over the city (and beyond), and discovered the many charms the West Loop has to offer. Allegedly, there are as many as 490 restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the neighborhood — meaning that in a five-minute walk, residents have access to at least 50 restaurants of their choosing.

Crane City

Because of the influx of businesses and a diversification of industry, West Loop residents have witnessed an incredible building boom. You can hardly go a block without seeing several cranes on the horizon. Curbed, which has been closely tracking the development in the area, projects that the total number of apartment and condo units under construction easily exceeds 1,000, a figure that’s expected to grow as many others await their groundbreakings or city approval. Thanks to its industrial roots, West Loop’s most prevalent housing stock is the ever-popular and trendy loft. Even new construction, like Related Midwest’s luxury apartment development Landmark West Loop, has an industrial-inspired aesthetic (at least, in that it heavily features brick and steel). While the majority of construction has skewed towards luxury apartments, new construction luxury condos are also starting to come on the market. In early May, Taris Real Estate’s soon-to-be-constructed 900 West development (900 W. Washington St.) set a neighborhood record, with a buyer putting the penthouse unit under contract for more than five million dollars — quadruple the previous record of $1.2 million for a 2,400-square-foot loft. But it remains to be seen whether the neighborhood can sustain that pricing — after all, existing condos in the area sell in the range of 475 to 525 dollars per square foot, already an increase over the 350 dollars per square foot that condos were going for two years ago. However, the West Loop’s growing reputation as a tech startup hub may signify that higher prices could become the norm in the very near future, because as residential developers are set to add a record number of new apartments to the area, commercial development is following suit.

Fulton Market Innovation District

The City of Chicago, recognizing the West Loop’s growing desirability, took the step of declaring the Fulton Market area as Chicago’s first “innovation district.” Innovation districts are a relatively new type of business center, characterized by a neighborhood that is attractive to companies who leverage technology to produce real and virtual goods. These districts also boast traditional industrial services, proximity to a central business district and strategic public infrastructure investments. The city notes that the unique positioning of Fulton Market as home to the Fulton-Randolph food market (the last remaining market district in Chicago) and proximity to other booming neighborhoods like Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village and Logan Square, offers the urban vibrancy and authenticity that often attracts technology-oriented anchors, aka innovation firms. Designating the area as the Fulton Market Innovation District thus provides protected areas for manufacturing, helping to preserve the area’s past, while creating the land use flexibility necessary to usher in new development and adaptive reuse of the old industrial infrastructure. It also sets out a plan for coordinating the economic growth, preservation, design and public investment for the area. You can’t discuss the burgeoning tech scene in the West Loop without acknowledging the Google influence, who set the trend back in 2015 with the opening of their Fulton Market office. Last summer, McDonald’s announced plans to redevelop the old Harpo Studios campus, bringing 2,000 jobs to the area. Companies like Dyson and Glassdoor have announced plans to also relocate to the neighborhood. Hotels, too, are following suit. The exclusive members-only Soho House opened their Chicago outpost on Green Street in 2014; two other chains — Hoxton Hotel and the Ace Hotel — are under construction with a third, Nobu Chicago, projected to break ground soon. Lately, it seems that every week a new project is making headlines in some way, and the demand for residences, offices and retail shows little signs of slowing. But the best part of the neighborhood is that, for all the shiny new construction, award-winning restaurants, buzzy startup offices and high-end chains, the energy and rich history of the neighborhood remains in the still-apparent industrial grit and old brick buildings. The fusion of past, present and future paints the West Loop as a unique neighborhood to live, work and play.