Chicago-based Sterling Bay and its partner, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, are looking to sell 110 N. Carpenter, the 575,000-square-foot trophy office building in Chicago’s Fulton Market that serves as the home base for McDonald’s Corporation. Sterling Bay has tapped JLL Chicago to market the property.
Sterling Bay recently sold 1330 W. Fulton Street, also known as Fulton West, to German real estate firm Commerz Real for $175 million. The property, which Sterling Bay developed in 2017, served as the developer’s corporate headquarters. Fulton Market has exploded in popularity since developers have transformed the former manufacturing district, attracting global corporations. Last October, the neighborhood was named named a Top 20 “Cool Street” in North America.
“In developing this one-of-a-kind urban headquarters experience at 110 N. Carpenter, our team has not only helped build a new and improved workplace culture for one of the world’s leading brands but has transformed Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood into a hub for corporate innovation that now attracts top-tier economic drivers to our city,” said Andy Gloor, CEO of Sterling Bay. “We’re extremely proud of this development and look forward to continuing our work in transforming spaces—and communities—both across Chicago and in new markets across the country.”
Completed in 2018, 110 N. Carpenter is a LEED Platinum Certified office asset featuring state-of-the-art amenities including flexible, open floor plans, floor-to-ceiling window lines, a 700-person conference center, a collaboration space with stadium seating, several outdoor terrace spaces, a fitness center with picturesque views of the skyline and on-site parking with a bike room. Built on the former site of Harpo Studios, McDonald’s Corp. currently occupies 490,000 square feet of the building, including its on-site training facility, Hamburger University, and a 6,000-square-foot, ground-floor international restaurant. Other tenants currently include Walgreens, FedEx and Politan Row, and One Medical is set to open in 2020.
“This is an extremely rare opportunity for an investor to become the owner of an urban headquarters space occupied by one of the world’s most valuable brands,” said Bruce Miller, senior managing director at JLL.
The property occupies a full city block in one of Chicago’s most popular submarkets, known for its recent track record in attracting traditional companies that seek to do business in a non-traditional, live-work-play environment. Access to all forms of public transit, numerous world-class restaurants, nightlife options and several hotels and retailers bring neighborhood amenities to the site—not to mention the many corporate neighbors including Google’s Midwest Headquarters that also call the area home.
“The asset’s location in Fulton Market—an area quickly following in the footsteps of New York City’s Meatpacking District, which exhibited rent growth of more than 215 percent since 2011—provides a new owner with tremendous financial upside,” said Jaime Fink, senior managing director at JLL.
The building was developed by Sterling Bay; Gensler served as architect of record; interiors were designed by IA Interior Architects and Studio O+A; and the general contractors were McHugh & ECI Executive Construction Inc.