More than a decade into its run as one of the nation’s fastest-changing urban real estate markets, Chicago’s former meatpacking district faces a pivotal stretch of retail leasing.
Fulton Market’s future is the focus of a new report from Chicago-based Stone Real Estate that concludes the next five years are likely to mold the neighborhood’s longer-term identity as a shopping corridor.
The retail brokerage's analysis coincides with global fashion designer Rick Owens’ recently signed lease to become the first ultra-luxury shop in the area just west of the Loop business district.
In addition to that high-end fashion boutique, Fulton Market remains a destination for upscale food and drink, as it was in decades past when Randolph Street came to be known informally as Restaurant Row. Today's roster includes Next, Girl & the Goat, Ever, Swift & Sons, the Aviary, Au Cheval, Aba and the Publican.
But higher demand from other types of tenants willing to pay high rents, such as fast food, has resulted in more competitors for spaces once sought out by cutting-edge, chef-driven culinary concepts.
The arrival of chains such as Raising Cane’s and Taco Bell is leading property owners, residents and real estate professionals to wonder what comes as the next wave, following a building boom that has already replaced low-rise industrial buildings with office, residential and hotel high-rises.
“Fulton Market is in evolving mode,” John Vance, the Stone Real Estate broker who wrote the report, told CoStar News. “Fulton Market is an important market for Chicago because it’s a neighborhood that is considered cool and cutting-edge as it relates to the national perception. Now Fulton Market is perhaps facing a crossroads.”
Gritty past
As recently as the early 2010s, visitors to some of the city’s top restaurants on and around Randolph Street coexisted with forklifts and meatpackers in blood-soaked smocks.
That began to change after Shapack Partners brought in the Soho House hotel and club and Chicago developer Sterling Bay bought the 10-story Fulton Market Cold Storage building — then the neighborhood's tallest structure, but since dwarfed. In 2013, Sterling Bay landed a deal for Google to lease most of the property that was being redeveloped into modern offices.
The arrival of Google’s Midwest headquarters led to other deals, including McDonald’s moving its global headquarters from the western suburbs to a new structure on the former site of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios and the arrival of other hotels such as Nobu and Hoxton.
Meatpackers and other food-industry businesses cashed in on rising values of their low-slung brick properties over the course of several years, leading to rows of high-rises.
A CoStar analysis in late 2021 found Fulton Market to be the fastest-expanding urban office market in the country.
More recently, multifamily development has surged in the area, adding to the pool of shoppers and opening the way for new types of businesses, such as the pending arrival of grocer Trader Joe’s.
"Fulton Market is no longer an up-and-coming market," said Canvas Real Estate broker Elan Rasansky, one of the Chicago-based brokers who represented Rick Owens. "It's a dynamic, mixed-use district. What's going to complete the neighborhood is the thousands of new residents on the way."
Coming of age
Though Fulton Market has attracted clothing and accessories sellers such as Patagonia, Billy Reid, Lululemon and Fjallraven, the apparel sector remains relatively small, occupying just over 4.8% of the total retail space, according to Stone Real Estate. The largest sector is food and beverage, which occupies more than 38% of all retail space.
Overall vacancy changed little last year, falling less than a percentage point to just under 20% in 2025.
Using the boundaries of the Kennedy Expressway to the east, Racine Avenue to the west, Washington Street to the south and Metra train tracks to the north, the surveyed area includes 1.55 million square feet of space, an increase of 120,000 from 2024.
New arrivals have been offset by some setbacks, including the recent closure of the massive Time Out Market food hall at 914-926 W. Fulton.
The arrival of chain restaurants and the still-eclectic mix of retailers add uncertainty.
“Fulton Market is starting to show its maturity for good and bad,” Vance said. “Now we can ask questions like, what are the next five years going to look like?”
Lap of luxury
One precedent could be Chicago’s Gold Coast. The area's evolution in recent decades has included Rush Street’s shift from late-hours nightlife to fine dining and shopping.
The increase in ultra-luxury tenants on and around Oak Street has been followed by the arrival of athleisure tenants such as Vuori and Alo Yoga.
“I don’t think the question is, does Fulton Market become a luxury apparel market?” Vance said. “The question is whether Fulton Market can include a luxury component and can it thrive much like the broader apparel spectrum that exists in the Gold Coast.”
The owners of the property that landed Paris-based Rick Owens say that deal will be the start of a trend north of Lake Street.
The shop is set to open within an 1800s building along Lake and Peoria streets that was the original Schwinn bicycle factory.
It is being redeveloped into office and retail space by developers Fulton Street and Shanna Collective. The historic building is connected to a ground-up office project nearing completion at 919 W. Fulton. Collectively, the buildings recently were rebranded as The Fulton.
Fitness chain Equinox and Gibsons Restaurant Group are committed as retail tenants at 919 W. Fulton.
Just west of The Fulton, Geneva Seal recently unveiled plans for a gallery at 1133 W. Fulton that will sell its watches and others from Swiss brands such as Omega, Breitling, Hublot and H. Moser & Cie.
Fashion focus
The driving force in the pursuit of Rick Owens was Shanna Khan, founder and CEO of Shanna Collective and chief design officer of The Fulton. She is the daughter of Shahid Khan, who owns auto parts supplier Flex-N-Gate and the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
Shanna Khan’s venture is teaming up with Fulton Street on several projects in the neighborhood.
Her firm and Fulton Street are under contract to buy a vacant, four-story structure at 942 W. Fulton from Thor Equities for an undisclosed price, which they plan to develop into more retail space, Fulton Street Principal Alex Najem said. New York-based Thor Equities did not respond to a request for comment.
Khan’s successful pursuit of Rick Owens is part of her broader vision to upgrade the roster of retail tenants, hospitality and architecture in the area.
Shanna Collective, Fulton Street and other developers are focused on bringing more high-end retailers to the northern portion of Fulton Market, Najem said. That includes reaching out to tenants that have followed Rick Owens in other cities throughout the world, such as French fashion house Maison Margiela and Los Angeles-based eyewear brand Jacques Marie Mage, Najem said.
“Randolph is for the chains, Raising Cane’s and Taco Bell,” Najem said. “We’re trying to control north of Lake Street, with likeminded developers, so that we can provide higher-end retail.”
Some development plans drawn up in the neighborhood would add large blocks of new retail, including an already approved design for an open-air retail arcade at the base of a high-rise plan by CRG and Shapack Partners at 170 N. Green St. That project is called One Fulton Market.
The retail space could be leased to a dozen or more luxury or contemporary brands that want to be near each other, CEO Jeff Shapack said.
"We're about to hit a tipping point of retail," he said. "With Fulton Market District experiencing hundreds of millions in annual food and beverage sales, luxury retailers are recognizing their customer base is already in the neighborhood."
Rick Owens is likely to attract more high-end luxury tenants, even those that have few shops in the U.S., Rasansky said.
"It's an independent brand that sees itself as a pioneer," he said. "They don't really follow others.
"It's a powerful enough brand that other luxury retailers and designers from Paris or wherever are going to find Fulton Market a target, even if they previously weren't considering Chicago. They're going to say, 'I want to see Fulton Market, where Rick Owens is going.'"