Initial details have been revealed for the vertical farm and housing redevelopment of the historic structure at 401 South State Street in The Loop. Located across the street from the Harold Washington Library and the shelved Assemble Chicago development, the project would bring much-needed life to an area of downtown plagued by vacancies.
Site context map of 401 S State St via Google Maps
The block-long, eight-story building was designed by the “father of the skyscraper,” William Le Baron Jenney, in 1891 as a department store for Siegel-Cooper. After Siegel-Cooper’s demise, it became a Sears store for decades before being designated a landmark and later converted into a campus for Robert Morris University. Following Robert Morris University’s merger with Roosevelt University, the structure was vacated.
Historic view of 401 S State St via BLDG 51 Museum
Historic view of 401 S State St via Chicago Detours
After sitting empty, local investor Marc Calabria purchased the distressed building for $4.2 million last year. Calabria is also part of Primera Group, which is behind the redevelopment of 105 West Adams nearby. Since then, he has been working with Chicago-based Farm Zero to pioneer the company’s first large-scale vertical farm and urban hub per CoStar.
View of Farm Zero’s current facility via WBEZ
Farm Zero has been operating and expanding its test farm nearby and will occupy a large portion of the 485,000-square-foot building for its new facility. This effort will be undertaken in collaboration with the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology, the FDA, and the Dutch government to grow everything from produce to tulips for use in the city.
AI-GENERATED rendering of 401 S State Street by Farm Zero
The redevelopment will also include a health research center, an incubator for controlled-environment farming startups, a produce market, a restaurant, a greenhouse, and a rooftop garden. The project would also feature a housing component for seniors or students. At the moment, no timeline or cost has been announced.
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That rendering certainly is AI–buildings and perspectives all jumbled and misplaced. Lazy work from the design studio, but thanks for accurately captioning the image.
Yes indeed – I noticed that too. Can’t people just draw stuff anymore?
Almost 1/2 million sqft of urban agriculture. That’s gotta be one of the largest in the country.
Keeping the produce close to the point of consumption should be a no-brainer for cities. Less traffic of trucks going cross-country. Less waste dealing with spoilage. Better environment not throwing pesticides and herbicides in the wind. Significantly higher yields of plant productivity.
This stuff is my drug and I love to see it.
Economically, I suspect this is pure fantasyland. Vertical farms sound so nice. But the cost of operating in something like that on multiple floors in a congested area where all the light will have to be artificial (as opposed to a horizontal facility where sunlight is available) is going to be way out of whack.
Bold prediction: this building sits empty until it’s lost to taxes.
lol what?
Micro-mobility is present in many cities worldwide. Just need an army of delivery bikes and scooters. If only Chicago had a stronger presence of those mini delivery trucks.
As for the light… the vertical racks and the ability to produce literal tons of product enable high yields. The market for ornamental crops is especially lucrative. If there’s anyone I trust to make this math out right, it’s the Dutch. Given that their government is directly involved and the world’s largest producer of floral products, this is not an afterthought boondoggle.
Have some positivity for a change.