400 KSF Chicago Lab Building Tops Out

Fulton Labs Aberdeen in Chicago. Image courtesy of Trammell Crow Co.

Trammell Crow Co. has reached a pivotal point in the development of Fulton Labs Aberdeen with the topping out of the premier laboratory building in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood. The company is bringing the 423,500-square-foot office and lab project to market to help fill the gap in Class A accommodations in the life sciences hub.

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Fulton Labs Aberdeen has reached its highest structural point on a 1.3-acre site at 400 N. Aberdeen St., which Trammell Crow acquired in 2020. With Power Construction aboard as general contractor, the developer broke ground on the project in late July 2020. The 16-story tower designed by ESG Architects will ultimately feature 12 floors of state-of-the-art wet and dry lab space with advanced R&D infrastructure that includes space designed to VC-A vibration criteria. Building amenities will include a rooftop lounge with fire pits, a ground-level café and a fitness facility. The property will also offer View Smart Windows for tenant health and productivity and hands-free building accessibility.

Fulton Labs Aberdeen has already garnered a commitment from venture development platform Portal Innovations, which, with CBRE spearheading leasing on Trammell Crow’s behalf, signed a deal in 2020 to occupy an entire 35,000-square-foot floor of the tower.

The lab development follows Trammell Crow’s successful Fulton Labs at 1375 W. Fulton facility. Also known as Fulton Labs at West End on Fulton, the roughly 300,000-square-foot lab facility reached completion in 2020. Trammell Crow expects to complete Fulton Labs Aberdeen by the first quarter of 2022.

Windy City Life Sciences

Trammell Crow’s delivery of Fulton Labs Aberdeen can’t come soon enough, as the Chicago market continues to grow in strength as one of the country’s leading life sciences clusters.

“Lab demand has grown significantly over the past 18 months as Chicago gains momentum in funding and institutional collaboration. The number of lab tenants seeking space and the total space associated with those requirements have more than tripled since early 2019,” according to a recent report by CBRE.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a surge in demand in an already tight market. As noted in the CBRE report, “demand is outpacing supply in Chicago, keeping space availability tight and placing upward pressure on rents until more lab supply is completed.”