West Loop Real Estate
Your Guide to Neighborhood Homes for Sale

West Loop Real Estate Agents Breakdown the Best Places to Live

Incredible city views overlooking the skyline. The most modern of lofts. An established restaurant/nightlife scene and booming office developments. Combine this with a prime central location and it’s why the West Loop real estate market can hardly keep up with the demand. But our West Loop real estate agents can help! Learn more about the neighborhood with our real estate guide and buy your next home with our expert West Loop real estate agency.

The West Loop at a Glance: 4 Quick Facts

1. West Loop real estate includes the 60661 and 60607 zip codes

2. Chicago has 77 official community areas and the West Loop falls within the Near West Side

3. The main commercial streets are Madison Street, Randolph, Lake, Fulton and Halsted Streets

4. Wards #27, 28, 25 and 42 are among the 50 Chicago wards represented in the West Loop

Where to Find It

Immediately west of the downtown city center.

The neighborhood boundaries for the West Loop are generally considered Kinzie Street to the north and Ashland Avenue to the west. The Chicago River acts as the eastern boundary and the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) is the southern boundary.

The 2 Most Common Housing Types in Chicago’s West Loop

1. Loft Condos

The West Loop neighborhood of Chicago is most known for its lofts. Many are century-old industrial buildings that have been converted to apartments and residential condos and this is prime West Loop real estate. Mixed in are some buildings with commercial uses as well: offices, galleries, event venues, independent shops and hotels for example. If looking for your next home, our West Loop agents can find the perfect one for you. Here’s more background to start your real estate search.

Hard Lofts

The style known as hard lofts are conversions. These vintage low-rise buildings formed the hardworking backbone of the city a century ago: industrial warehouses, factories and meatpacking facilities that lined the streets with their solid brick and timber construction. Elements such as freight elevators and large docking bays for deliveries were essential for their function. Now that they have been converted for residential use as apartments and condos, these buildings are sought after for their industrial appeal. In the West Loop, characteristics buyers look for are hardwood or concrete floors, oversized windows, brick walls, timber ceilings and wood posts. Open floor plans and high, often unfinished, ceilings add to the feeling of space. Materials are original to the building and modern features such as plumbing, ducts and electrical are exposed.

Soft Lofts

The other style, soft lofts, mimic many qualities of hard lofts. These are often newer buildings that have been constructed with a similar aesthetic in mind yet with the soft edges more typical of new condos. To capture that spirit of “loft living” they utilize open floor plans to add to the sense of scale, large windows to draw in light and high ceilings to add that characteristic “loft” feel. Generally they have more of a finished look with drywall that conceals the electrical, plumbing and heating systems. Whereas the structure and raw materials of the building is most striking in a hard loft, the openness and more polished appearance is more noted in soft lofts.

In Chicago’s West Loop, both styles come in a variety of prices, sizes and configurations. Some have private balconies, while others have shared rooftops. There are bi-level lofts that are two stories in height, often with a second level that is open to the main floor. There may or may not be any interior walls, with some that are partial height. Tour the various homes for sale with our West Loop agents to see the differences in person and find the style you prefer.

Some West Loop lofts as examples:

• 1000 W Washington Lofts - consisting of 180 units in two loft buildings (Randolph, built in 1884, and Washington, built in 1902), these were originally owned by Nabisco and used as bakeries and became lofts in the mid-1990s

• Sangamon Lofts (411 S Sangamon St) – formerly an undergarment factory, it was built in 1910 and houses 70 units across eight floors

• Green Street Lofts (400 S Green St) – built in 1895 as an industrial warehouse, the building became lofts in the mid-1980s and features 67 units with unique floor plans, exposed brick, hardwood floors and timber beams

• Block Y (1330 W Monroe St) – a heavy timber loft 5-floor condo building with 65 total units built in 2001 with a courtyard across from Skinner Park

• 11 N Green St – a 4-story hard loft building built in 1920 with brick, timber and steel finishes in the units and garage parking and a rooftop deck

• 1101 W Lake St – the brick six-story building with timber loft apartments that feature 14-foot ceilings and has heated garage parking and a common roof deck

• Union Park Lofts (at 1327 W Washington Blvd) – with 32 hard lofts converted in 2000, it is a historic building built in 1917 that has five stories and unit features such as exposed brick, ductwork, beams and timber ceilings

2. Low- to Mid-Rise New Construction Condos (less than 12 stories in height)

Because of the home buyer demand, real estate in West Loop, Chicago has brought on a surge in new construction, particularly in the last ten years. New construction buildings are typically smaller in scale due to height restrictions. These boutique buildings often range from six to 12 stories with less than 100 total units. The newest West Loop condos are almost all luxury buildings with high end finishes such as private balconies, gourmet kitchens and custom cabinetry and expansive master suites. Amenities can include dog runs, communal rooftop space, 24-hour doorman security and electric car charging.

West Loop real estate that falls in this category includes:

• Mille at 1000 W Monroe – a modern 8-story building with only 12 total units, each with three bedrooms in either a simplex or duplex layout

• Hayden West Loop (at 1115 W Washington Blvd) – a 9-story, 28-unit condo that boasts single-family living across 24 three-bedroom residences and four duplex penthouses ranging from 3,200 to 5,000 square feet

• 900 West (at 900 W Washington Blvd) – with only 22 residences, one of the most exclusive new builds in the West Loop featuring luxury condominiums from 2-4 bedrooms including two duplex penthouses

• West Loop Collection (at 240 S Green St) – which brings 40 new units total including 20 three-bedroom single-story condominiums, 10 four+ bedroom penthouse duplexes with a private rooftop deck and 10 four-bedroom duplex-downs with private decks over garage

• Illume (at 111 S Peoria St) – a 79-unit condo development next to Mary Bartelme Park with 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom luxury residences

Live & Work: The Top Employers in the West Loop

Immediately adjacent to the downtown Loop, the West Loop and Fulton Market District have been established as cutting-edge business districts. A multitude of startups, co-working spaces, small businesses, corporate headquarters and satellite offices have either grown here or relocated to here in the last decade. Major employers and their buildings include:

• McDonald’s Corporation (at 110 N Carpenter) - housed in a nine-story 500,000 square foot headquarters featuring underground parking, a retail level and outdoor space on the upper floors

• Google (at 1KFulton, 1000 W Fulton) – the Midwest headquarters took over a century-old 531,000 square foot cold storage building, which was turned into a LEED-certified creative loft office and neighborhood retail building that also houses SRAM

• Dyson and Glassdoor (at Fulton West, 1330 W Fulton) – a newly constructed nine-story building with 290,000 square feet

• Twitter and Uber Technologies (at 111 N Canal St) – a 16-story concrete loft building with 860,000 square feet

Location Matters: West Loop Schools, Parks & Landmarks

Known for its dining and nightlife district, Chicago’s West Loop has expanded and grown into a community with all the essential needed to live and work.  

Green spaces include Mary Bartelme Park (115 S Sangamon St) known for its skyline views, seven-acre Skinner Park (1331 W Adams St) which has a fieldhouse and Union Park (1501 W Randolph St) which has playing fields and a pool.

Several schools serve the West Loop community such as Montessori Academy of Chicago (1335 W Randolph St), The Gardner School of Chicago (1301 W Madison St #100), Mark T. Skinner West Elementary School (1260 W Adams St) and Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (211 S Laflin St).

Major retailers and grocery stores include Jewel-Osco (370 N Desplaines St), Mariano’s (40 S Halsted St), Whole Foods Market (1 N Halsted St), H Mart (711 W Jackson Blvd) and Target (1101 W Jackson Blvd).