The Top New Chicago Apartment Buildings Opening in 2026 and 2027

TL;DR Chicago's new-building pipeline is strong. Stead 220 in Fulton Market is leasing now, River North's 111 Point and the Loop's 79 W Monroe office conversions deliver in 2026, and 2027 brings the 72-story tower at 400 Lake Shore Drive and 214 N Morgan in Fulton Market. New buildings mean more choice and often the best lease-up deals. Here is what is coming.

If you like being the first to live somewhere, the next two years are good ones. Chicago has a healthy pipeline of new apartment buildings, with several leasing now and a few showstoppers landing in 2027.

New buildings are worth watching for more than the shiny finishes. During the lease-up phase, when a building is filling up for the first time, you often find the best concessions in the city. Here is what is coming, by year.

Leasing now: Stead 220 (Fulton Market)

The headliner you can actually rent today is Stead 220 at 220 North Ada in Fulton Market. It is a 29-story tower with 308 apartments, from studios to two-bedrooms, plus a handful of penthouse homes up top, with ground-floor retail bringing more life to the street.

If you want a brand-new building in the city's hottest neighborhood, this is the one that is open for business right now.

Opening in 2026

A few more buildings deliver this year, and two of them are part of a trend worth knowing about: office-to-residential conversions that are adding apartments right in the central business district.

111 Point (River North), 153 units. A conversion at 111 West Illinois, with studios, junior one-bedrooms, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms, plus a fitness center, sauna, hot tub, and pet spa. First move-ins are expected in May 2026.

79 W Monroe (The Loop), 117 units. Billed as the city's first office-to-residential conversion of its kind, with a rooftop deck and a dog run among the amenities. Leasing in 2026.

Wacker Place (The Loop), 65 E Wacker. A historic art-deco office tower reborn as apartments, right on the river with riverwalk paths and the Loop at your doorstep. Leasing in 2026.

Coming in 2027

This is where it gets exciting. Two of the most anticipated buildings in the city are targeted for 2027.

400 Lake Shore Drive (Streeterville). Built on the long-famous former Chicago Spire site, the first phase is a 72-story tower standing 858 feet tall, with 635 units that include 127 affordable apartments and run from studios to three-bedroom penthouses. It is set to open in early 2027 and will instantly become one of the most recognizable addresses on the lakefront.

214 N Morgan (Fulton Market). An 18-story, 268-unit building rising mid-block in Fulton Market, with a studio-forward mix of 239 studios and 29 one-bedrooms, targeted for completion in 2027. A great option if you want a brand-new studio in the heart of the action.

What this means for renters

A strong pipeline is good news whether or not you rent one of these specific buildings.

More new supply means more choice across the board, and new buildings competing for their first residents tend to be the most generous with concessions. If you can time a move to a building's lease-up, you can land the newest finishes and a deal at the same time.

It also keeps the rest of the market honest. When shiny new towers open with move-in offers, nearby buildings often sharpen their own pricing and incentives to keep pace, which helps every renter in the neighborhood.

How to use this

If you want new construction now, Stead 220 is leasing. If you can wait, keep an eye on the 2026 conversions in River North and the Loop, and circle 400 Lake Shore Drive and 214 N Morgan for 2027.

Either way, lease-up buildings move fast and their best offers do not last, so it pays to track them early. For the deals on offer right now across the city, see our Chicago Concession Tracker, and for the neighborhood where most of this is happening, our guide to the West Loop and Fulton Market. Then browse current openings and book a tour.

Hero image: Photo by Konstantin Mishchenko on Pexels