West Loop's First ALDI Is Now Officially Under Construction: Julep West Loop Breaks Ground at 1000 W. Jackson
By Socialhood News · West Loop ·
West Loop neighbors, the grocery gap your neighborhood has long complained about just crossed a major finish line — not a planning milestone, not a zoning vote, but an actual groundbreaking. On Wednesday, September 10, Chicago-based Mavrek Development gathered project partners at 1000 W. Jackson Boulevard to officially break ground on Julep West Loop, a 25-story mixed-use high-rise that will bring the neighborhood's very first ALDI to its ground floor.
The project's footprint is substantial. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the development encompasses land at 1000–24 W. Jackson Blvd., 230–38 S. Morgan, and 1015–27 W. Adams Streets — a multi-parcel assemblage that reflects more than four years of work by Mavrek to bring the project to this moment. At its base will sit a 22,000-square-foot ALDI, a grocery format that trades in everyday essentials at discount prices and has become one of the fastest-growing food retailers in the country. For a neighborhood that has spent years building one of the most celebrated restaurant corridors in the world while struggling to offer residents a place to buy a bag of apples, that 22,000-square-foot anchor is a genuinely practical win.
Julep West Loop has been a long time coming. The Chicago Plan Commission approved the development in July 2024, and the City Council followed with its own approval later that same year, per the Sun-Times. The project drew considerable attention during those approval processes precisely because of the grocery component — West Loop's surging residential population has outpaced its everyday retail offerings for years, and the ALDI announcement gave the development an immediate quality-of-life storyline that went beyond the typical new-apartment pitch.
Funding the project alongside Mavrek is Fengate, a Canadian investment firm with a growing U.S. real estate portfolio. Alexander Glassman, Fengate's managing director of U.S. real estate investments, made clear at the groundbreaking that the project fits a deliberate strategic thesis. "With demand for housing in Chicago continuing to outpace supply, now is the time to advance well-located, mixed-use communities that connect residents to jobs, transit and amenities," Glassman said in a news release. He added that Fengate is "proud to help bring much-needed homes to the West Loop and create lasting value for residents, workers and the broader community."
On the residential side, Julep West Loop will rise 25 stories — adding a significant new rental tower to a corridor that sits just south of the Fulton Market core, within easy walking distance of the CTA Green and Pink Lines at Morgan Station. Construction is expected to take approximately 21 months, with the first residents projected to move in during early 2028, according to the Sun-Times.
For neighbors who have watched West Loop transform from meatpacking district to one of the most sought-after zip codes in the Midwest, Julep West Loop represents something the neighborhood has genuinely lacked: the infrastructure of everyday life to match its ambitions as a place people actually call home. A 22,000-square-foot ALDI at the base of a 25-story residential building at Jackson and Morgan isn't a luxury amenity — it's the kind of anchor that makes a neighborhood work for the people who live there year-round, not just those who come for a Saturday dinner reservation.
West Loop neighbors, the shovels are in the ground and early 2028 is the target. Are you excited to finally have a full-service grocery option coming to the neighborhood — and what else do you hope the Julep West Loop development brings to the Jackson corridor? Drop your thoughts in the comments and tag a neighbor who's been waiting for this one right here on Socialhood!
Sources:
1. https://chicago.suntimes.com/real-estate/2026/09/10/west-loop-tower-julep-mavrek-aldi-breaks-ground