Sexton Condominiums
Located in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois just 0.3 miles from the Loop
Our Building's History
360 West Illinois Street (“The Sexton Building”) was constructed between 1913 and 1915 by John Sexton & Co., as the new home of the Chicago-based import, wholesale grocer, and manufacturing company. Originally incorporated in 1898 by John Peter Sexton, after over a decade of running a tea and coffee chain, the company would ultimately be acquired by US Foodservice in the late 20th century.
The one-acre parcel of land at the corner of Illinois and Orleans was developed into a 300,000 square foot, six-story structure designed by preeminent architect, Alfred S. Alschuler, with his classic style of terra cotta ornament on the façade and roofline of the predominantly brick building. The multi-use mammoth building, with timber interiors, housed the warehouse, corporate and sales offices, laboratory, and manufacturing plant. Each floor served a dedicated purpose, from cooking preserves and jellies to storing soaps and cleansers to pickle curing and canning. Since many of John Sexton & Co.’s customers were not based in Chicago, freight trains ran through the first floor to enable direct distribution of products.
As the company’s success continued to grow dramatically, a six-story addition was built on the eastern side of the building in 1928. The addition was also designed by Alshuler, though now featuring concrete interiors, pushing the edge of the building up alongside Orleans.
The Sexton Building thrived for decades, before John Sexton & Co. built an even larger warehouse in Southwest Chicago in the 1950s, after which time the building remained a major center for various business tenants.
In the late 1990s, Concord Homes began the redevelopment process to convert The Sexton Building into 235 loft condominiums, adding five floors on top of the 1928 addition (“The Tower”) and constructing 17 townhomes along Kingsbury. The Sexton Condominiums officially opened in 1999, a living ode to Chicago’s historical economic prowess and entrepreneurial ingenuity. For the past two decades, The Sexton has been home to a richly vibrant and welcoming community of dedicated residents.