CHICAGO—As reported in GlobeSt.com yesterday, 4K Diversey Partners, LLC just convinced the Chicago City Council to approve its plan to transform the old Marshall Field's distribution facility at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. on the Northwest Side into a mixed-use development with offices, a grocery store and other retail. But Paul Fishbein of Merit Partners, LLC, one of the 4K team, tells GlobeSt.com that “the most important category going forward” is the 84 live/work units that will give the refurbished property a 24/7 vibe.

“Gens X and Y want to handle business and work much differently than they've been done in the past,” he says. The units will range from 850- to 3,000-square-feet and unlike ordinary residential leases, everyone occupying these spaces will also have the right to operate a business with several employees. “We've had huge interest,” Fishbein adds, from people such as artisans or small business owners. The group has, for example, spoken to the owner of a small marketing firm that wants to live in the building and have his three employees work there.

“When you graduate from a co-working space or an incubator and become a two- to five-person business, where do you go?” Fishbein asks. Previously, only artists were permitted to live in their work spaces, but a 2012 city ordinance expanded the types of businesses covered by the law. “We will be the first,” he says, to take advantage of the expanded definition. “It's in high demand, but there is literally zero supply.”

“The envelope of this building is in exceptional condition,” he adds, largely because it underwent a major renovation in 2000 that included new windows and tuckpointing. But Fishbein and his partners still plan to create a lobby for the 1.5-million-square-foot complex, now known as the Fields, new elevators, inside parking for 700 cars, and a modern HVAC system. “This will be relatively easy to do.”

Fishbein compares the Fields project to the redevelopment of the former Montgomery Ward campus at 600 W. Chicago Ave. He was responsible for leasing and marketing that 2.5 million-square-foot project and says many people were not sure it would work due to its proximity to Cabrini-Green. “Obviously, time proved that wrong. Few believed it could be different,” but the building, which was sold in 2007 for $300 million and in 2011 for $390 million, now has Groupon as a tenant.

4K is now conducting negotiations with a grocery store and hopes to make an announcement before the end of the year. The grocery store will own its space as a condo, also an option for future office tenants.

The plans call for 300,000-square-feet of office space and Fishbein hopes to attract “large companies looking to create a total environment all on one floor.” Each floor has roughly 170,000-square-feet. “Culturally, it's a huge difference to be on one floor instead of two or three and that's very interesting to a lot of companies today,” especially tech or creative firms that “don't want traditional office spaces with drop ceilings.” The Fields has ceilings that range from 14-feet to 17-feet. “These are bright, wide open spaces.”