Crosstown Concourse project is the metamorphosis of urban blight into a vibrant community. It is the rebirth of not just a building, but an entire neighborhood. Though initially conceived as a home for a small start-up arts organization with plans to organically revive the structure over decades, the project evolved into a 1.3- million-square-foot “vertical urban village.” Rooted in historical context and flourishing on the ideals of common purpose, social transformation, and inclusivity, the building has achieved full occupancy in less than one year.

Constructed as a Sears Distribution Center in 1927, the building grew into a major economic engine. However, by 1983 it sat abandoned, indicative of the modern trend of disposability and urban disinvestment. Through a meticulous and collaborative design process, the redevelopment has rekindled the building, as well as reinstated a sense of civic pride. The blend of retail, restaurants, fitness, health, educational and professional spaces, in addition to market-rate housing, works in unison to create a new community paradigm.

A series of cost conscious architectural extractions and insertions have produced a vibrant new community that encourages discovery. Infused with the spirit of the building’s historic distribution system, seven new atria and their corresponding street-like corridors, transport natural light into public spaces. These reimagined spaces inspire participation and collaboration, catalyzing a community movement that challenges possibility.