At the November meeting of the NOWL Development Committee, Scott Goodman with Sterling Bay presented their concept for a new office building with ground floor retail and an attached parking garage at 1330 W. Fulton Street. Known as Fulton West, the project would complete a partially-built structure that was originally intended to be the headquarters of MarchFirst, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The proposed complex, expected for completion in late 2017, will include a nine-story office building (290,000 sq ft) with 610-space parking structure.
Sterling Bay acquired the site, which includes five other buildings and a 20,000 sq ft courtyard, in spring of 2014 for $22 million.
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- 1330 W. Fulton, 2015
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- Proposed rendering
In their renderings, Sterling Bay displayed a glass-lined structure with grey brick façade wrapped around the first five floors topped with a three-story penthouse framed in white. The committee challenged the gray shade citing its contrast with the many red-orange brick buildings nearby.
During the community meeting held on Nov. 10 at Venue One, questions were raised about the proposed height of the building, which is above existing buildings on the block but lower than the grain silos located immediately to the north.
Use of the proposed courtyard was a topic at both meetings. At present, Sterling Bay has not decided if the green space will be open to the public or restricted to the tenants of the complex.
The property is currently zoned M2-3, which would limit the ground floor retail spaces to no more than 4,000 sq ft each. However, Sterling Bay wishes to apply an “elective” planned development that would allow for any combination of retail properties within the 20,000 sq ft available, including a single large business.
In combination with its other developments in the Fulton Market Area, e.g., 1K Fulton, Sterling Bay is seeking to create a suburban office park feel within the city.
The NOWL Development Committee is developing a position letter for Ald. Burnett based on the community feedback collected to-date.
By: Matt Letourneau, NOWL Development Committee Chair