Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a lease for Crate and Barrel Holdings. The retailer will use the 117,000 square feet of office and production space at Merit Partners’ The Fields redevelopment for photo and video production.
The Fields is a 22-acre, 1.5 million-square-foot redevelopment of the former Marshall Field’s campus located at 4000 West Diversey, and is part of the Logan Square neighborhood. Cushman & Wakefield’s Barbara Schenberg and Teddy Walsh represented the owners, 4K Diversey Partners, LLC., while Steve Schneider and Andy Heymann, also of Cushman & Wakefield, represented Crate and Barrel.
The six-story loft building, now known as The Fields, was built in 1928 by Olson Rug and acquired in 1965 by Marshall Field and Co. The project went vacant in 2008 before 4K Diversey Partners, LLC, a partnership of Louis Silver, Aaron Paris, and Paul Fishbein, acquired the complex.
Merit Partners, as the Developer, commenced a massive, mixed-use redevelopment in January 2014, bringing the property back to life with a brand-new building in a historic shell. The project contains 700 indoor, heated parking spaces; 300,000 square feet of office/tech/studio space (183,000 square feet currently available); 123 residential rental lofts; 100,000 square feet of retail space, including the flagship Cermak Fresh Market; a 125,000-square-foot Cubesmart Self Storage business; and a 400,000-square-foot warehouse anchored by Studio 41.
“The Crate and Barrel lease represents a transformative milestone for all stakeholders,” said Paul Fishbein of Merit Partners. “With Crate and Barrel anchoring the office portion of the building, we look forward to securing other companies looking for creative tech space at cost effective rents. We’re fortunate to have a company like Crate & Barrel help us propel this project forward into the future.”
Alderman Milly Santiago is pleased to welcome Crate and Barrel as the anchor office tenant to a growing number of companies coming to the 31st ward. “The growth of this area has been remarkable over the past three years. This neighborhood is a true live/work/play community,” she said.
