Chicago’s Fulton East Is Nation’s First Office Building Designed To Deliver Health-Focused Operating Solutions For Post-COVID-19 Business Environment
Fulton East will showcase world’s first new-building installation of MAD Elevator Inc.’s Toe-To-Go hands-free elevator system and world’s first multi-story office building installation of airPHX’s air and surface disinfection system, among numerous other health and wellness features
CHICAGO – May 27, 2020 – Fulton East, a 12-story, 90,000-square-foot office and retail building located at 215 N. Peoria St. in the heart of Chicago’s Fulton Market District, is the nation’s first next-generation office building designed to specifically address employee health, safety and wellness in today’s post-COVID-19 business environment. Fulton East, which is now leasing for a summer opening and will accommodate the safe and healthy return of employees to the office, features state-of-the-art wellness technology and efficient 10,605-square-foot floor plates to enable flexible, custom planning options designed to accommodate safe social distancing.
In the past two months, the Fulton East development team invested intense research into identifying new, leading-edge products that enhance the health, safety and wellness of its tenants’ employees. The building now includes the world’s first new-construction installation of Canada-based MAD Elevator Inc.’s Toe-To-Go (T2G) hands-free elevator system. This will also be Otis Elevator Company’s first-ever installation of the T2G elevator system, which utilizes foot-activated call buttons for a hands-free elevator experience, reducing the spread of germs.
In addition, Fulton East will be the first multi-story office building to employ airPHX (“air fix”) non-thermal, plasma technology throughout the entire building to help reduce cross-contaminant risks and provide employees with cleaner air and work surfaces. The airPHX technology is currently in use in hospitals, dental clinics, college athletic facilities and commercial settings where independent, on-site testing has shown reductions of 90% to 99% of viruses, bacteria and mold, both on surfaces and in the air.
“We have made a major investment of time and capital to bring Fulton East to market as a next-generation office building that prioritizes health, safety and wellness for our tenants’ employees in a coordinated and comprehensive way,” said Bob Wislow, chairman and CEO of Parkside Realty, Inc., the developer of Fulton East. “We believe this is extremely important today, as every employee and their family is acutely aware of – and deeply concerned about – safety and well-being in the workplace environment. As an under-construction, boutique office building, we fortunately had the opportunity to modify Fulton East’s design in response to COVID-19 in real time, allowing us to thoughtfully address employers’ increased concerns for their employees’ office experience, and create an environment where hygiene, health, safety and wellness are holistically considered.”
In addition to T2G hands-free elevators and airPHX air and surface disinfection technology, Fulton East includes the following health, safety and wellness enhancements:
Touch-Free Amenities
- Touch-free thermal scanning at the lobby security desk to check people’s temperatures.
- Rosslare’s touch-free key fob access and security system, pre-wired for future BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) access via a mobile phone.
- Butterfly, touch-free, after-hours security/building access/intercom/elevator access system.
- Private, in-building, exclusive parking providing direct, touch-free, secure access to tenant floors.
- Sloan’s touch-free, solar-powered faucets, soap dispensers, and flush valves and SloanTec Hydrophobic Glaze on all vitreous washroom fixtures.
Social Distancing Options
- All washrooms constructed with one fixture more than Chicago city code to help enhance social distancing.
- Only three columns on each floor, enabling flexibility in office design to easily accommodate social distancing guidelines, including two distinct wet column areas providing the opportunity for two separated cafes and kitchens.
- Ability for larger employers to increase employees’ access to light and views, reduce density in washrooms and corridors and increase access to outdoor space by leasing multiple floors for separate departments or teams – conveniently connecting these floors via Fulton East’s natural light-filled and secure interior connecting stair system, making it easy for employees to communicate from floor to floor.
- An 8,000-square-foot rooftop garden park available for the exclusive use of building occupants, offering comfortable seating for individual relaxation and small group meetings. In addition, a spacious, amphitheater-style seating area with a large screen TV with state-of-the-art connectivity is available for comfortable outdoor presentations, training sessions, company meetings, entertainment and casual gatherings, all in a space designed to incoporate appropriate social distancing.
Additional Employee Health and Well-Being
- Sherwin-Williams Paint Shield®, a unique, EPA-registered, microbicidal paint that kills greater than 99.9% of Staph, MRSA, E. coli, VRE and Enterobacter aerogenes within 2 hours of exposure on painted surfaces, applied on washroom walls.
- Building facade of continuous, floor-to-ceiling, Low-E glass and 12-foot floor-to-floor spans to provide the maximum amount of light, air and views to benefit tenants’ health and well-being.
- 10,605-square-foot floor plates optimal for single-tenant use, providing private, exclusive, non-shared use of washrooms, corridors and 9-by-27-foot private outdoor balconies on each floor, offering a fresh air and sunshine respite for employees.
“By offering an array of such features in a small, flexible footprint, right in the heart of Chicago’s hottest downtown submarket, we believe that Fulton East will be a role model for the future of safe and healthy office buildings,” said Wislow.
Chicago-based Clayco, one of the nation’s largest design-build firms, is leading the Fulton East design-build team, in collaboration with Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC) as the building’s architect. Nationally-renowned, Chicago-based interior designer Holly Hunt designed Fulton East’s unique lobby.
“We’ve been impressed by the forward-thinking vision and hands-on approach of Fulton East’s developers throughout the entire design process, and especially as they recently did extensive research to quickly implement even more of today’s most advanced health, safety and wellness features,” said architect Lamar Johnson. “Smaller floor plates provide a greater percentage of natural daylight per square foot of occupied space for all employees’ benefit. Countless studies have proven that access to daylight and views improves performance, provides numerous health benefits and even reduces employee sick days. Along with unique office building features like the airPHX technology and the Toe-To-Go elevators, Fulton East is primed to offer employers a distinctive, elevated and safe workplace environment to keep and attract today’s health-focused employees.”
Fulton East’s exterior design, which incorporates Prodema sustainable wood features on its all-glass facade, pays a respectful nod to the historic Fulton Market neighborhood and its evolution. In recent years, the area has transformed from a meat, fish and poultry market to Chicago’s fastest growing, cutting-edge tech and business center and the city’s hottest and highly-walkable, live-work-play neighborhood. Fulton Market is now home to global headquarters for McDonald’s and Mondelēz, tech campuses for Google, Glassdoor and Dyson, and leading advertising, design, professional and financial services firms, with many of the city’s most lauded restaurants and cafes easily accessible for the neighborhood’s workers and residents.
“We believe we have entered a new era where many firms will be less inclined to pursue large floor plate buildings filled with a huge number of employees or multiple companies on each floor sharing washrooms, corridors and public areas or high-rise buildings with crowded lobbies and long waits for the elevators,” said Wislow. “Fulton East will house only 400-500 people at full occupancy, and at just 12 stories tall, employees may choose to use our hands-free elevators or sunshine-filled staircase to access their space. The experience of a safer, healthier and more controlled office environment will help tenants attract and retain top employee talent for years to come.”
For leasing inquiries, contact Katie Scott at (312) 218-6347 or [email protected], or Camille Julmy at (312) 259-5663 or [email protected].
About Fulton East:
Fulton East, a 12-story, 90,000-square-foot office and retail building located at 215 N. Peoria St. in the heart of Chicago’s Fulton Market District, is the nation’s first next-generation office building designed to specifically address employee health, safety and wellness in today’s post-COVID-19 environment. Fulton East features new, leading-edge products, such as Canada-based MAD Elevator Inc.’s new Toe-To-Go (T2G) hands-free elevator system and airPHX (“air fix”) non-thermal, plasma technology throughout the entire building to help reduce cross-contaminant risks and provide employees with cleaner air and work surfaces. Visit www.fulton-east.com.
About Clayco:
Clayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering, and construction firm that safely delivers clients across North America the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $3.25 billion in revenue for 2019, Clayco specializes in the “art and science of building,” providing fast track, efficient solutions for industrial, commercial, institutional and residential related building projects. For more information visit www.claycorp.com.
About LJC:
LJC is a full-service design and architecture firm committed to enhancing the quality of the human experience and to improving how design and architecture can impact each individual’s emotional being. By harnessing the power of integrated design, including architecture, workplace strategy, interior design, landscape architecture, urban planning and engineering, the company achieves its clients’ goals and aspirations. For more information, please visit www.theljc.com.
About Holly Hunt:
Having sold her eponymous interior design and furnishing business to KNOLL in 2014, Holly Hunt has reconnected with her entrepreneurial spirit and is channeling this energy and vision through a design-forward consulting practice. Holly’s presence will be exclusive to a most discerning like-minded clientele. Architect and designer, Neil Zuleta, is this venture’s first partner. Neil first joined Holly 12 years ago and has returned after three years with Gensler.