In recent years, developers have found ways to bring thousands of new residents to the neighborhoods of Chicago's South Loop.

More difficult has been coming up with retail centers to serve those residents.

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John Sweeney, principal of JPS Interests in Chicago, hopes that his new Southgate Market at Canal Street will solve the problem.

Sweeney's $50 million project will fit big box and major national retailers-which find ample elbow room in the suburbs-into a dense urban setting.

"These businesses are looking for in-city locations and are having a hard time finding them," he said. "Our solution is to build up, not out."

Seeking Urban Flair

The 740,000-sq.-ft., five-story structure will feature 320,000 sq. ft. of retail with 2.5 levels of rooftop parking. The project will bring conveniences to the area often
reserved for the suburbs with a feel that is all urban.

"It's a new concept for here," Sweeney said. "Most of these large retailers have pretty pedestrian spaces. We wanted something unique that has some panache to it."

The center will feature a 50,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods supermarket and six or seven retailers in 20,000-sq.-ft.-plus spaces, including Office Depot and Linens and Things.

The remaining spaces will be filled out with eight or nine retailers between 1,500 sq. ft. and 10,000 sq. ft., such as Panera Bread Co. and Starbucks. Construction of the center, which was designed by Eckenhoff Saunders Architects of Chicago, began in April 2005 on a previously empty lot and is scheduled for completion in November.

Pepper Construction of Chicago is the general contractor.

Walt Eckenhoff, design principal at Eckenhoff Saunders Architects, said his firm's task was to meet the demands of tenants and customers while tackling the circulation issues and respecting city standards.

The city didn't want multiple-levels parking at street level, Eckenhoff said. Since digging an underground lot was a cost issue, a 900-space parking area was designed for the top floors.

A 154,000-sq.-ft., 300-space parking garage was approved along the ground level of the south side of the building. The street-level garage fronts Whole Foods, allowing shoppers to more easily load groceries.

A Suspension Bridge in Chicago?

The lot, which is at West Roosevelt Road and South Canal Street, borders active rail lines on its east side. An extension of Taylor Street, which currently ends at Canal, is being built across the northern edge of the site to address circulation problems.

The new extension will allow cars to access upper-level parking and the Whole Foods parking area.

A suspension bridge is being hung from I-beams along the east side of the building to carry cars from Taylor to the top floors. Delivery trucks will be able to drive from the extension along the east side of the building at ground level so they won't interfere with car traffic.

With vehicle access concentrated on Taylor, the Canal Street entrance will be for pedestrians.

Glen Gunkel, a project engineer with Pepper Construction, said the Taylor Street work is one of the trickiest aspects of the job.

The Taylor Street extension includes a bridge that will eventually clear the rail lines and cross the Chicago River to the east. Gunkel said that as Southgate's suspension bridge goes up, there is a lot of coordination between the ironworkers on the parking garage and the ironworkers on the Taylor Street bridge, which is being built by Kenny Construction of Wheeling.

"We're building the bridge and a parking garage and using the road to get back in there and access everything, and it's all happening at once," he said.

Large Spaces, Masonry

Southgate is built on 270 caissons dug up to 60 ft. deep. The structure is post-tensioned reinforced concrete with 30- by 40-ft. bays, which Eckenhoff said will offer retailers large merchandising spaces.

He added that because parking is on top of the structure, special attention is being paid to the membrane on the decks to make sure water will not leak into the retail spaces below.

The building's skin is reinforced ground-faced concrete masonry.

"We used that because there's quite a bit of expression you can develop architecturally with multiple textures and colors," Eckenhoff said.

The design mixes a soft red brick look with limestone-colored block. Bands of concrete slab will be visible from the outside to express the different levels of the structure. A curtain wall of patterned glass with clear glass at street level will cover most of the Roosevelt and Canal street facades.

The structure also features a glass core that will lead shoppers from the rooftop parking areas to the interior entrances of the stores. The building features large elevator bays to accommodate shoppers taking carts to the parking areas. Several stairs and escalators guide shoppers through the retail spaces.

Gunkel said there is tremendous coordination of different trades throughout the building, particularly near the entrance. That area includes a stairwell and elevator banks that neighbor the curtain wall that is going up.

Large ductwork is also being fitted throughout the structure.

"You could practically drive a car through some of it," Gunkel added.

Nearly 60 percent of the base building was completed in March and nearly 85 percent of the retail spaces leased. "There are 20,000 windows that look out on this property," Sweeney said. "When it gets up and running, it will immediately be known as the retail center for the area."

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