While city planners and local stakeholders continue work to craft a future land use plan for Chicago’s North Branch Industrial Corridor, third-party logistics company C.H. Robinson is content working within the existing industrial zoning as it kicks-off work on a new riverfront headquarters. Designed by Chicago’s Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) for the four-acre former site of the Gutmann Leather Tannery at 1515 N. Webster, the office project landed its construction permit on Friday.

Developer Sterling Bay purchased the site in 2015 for $21.3 million and signed a 15-year tenant agreement with C.H. Robinson shortly thereafter. The 207,000-square-foot, build-to-suit development will house C.H. Robinson’s rapidly-growing Chicago workforce, effectively replacing their current facility at 1840 N. Marcey St.

The new four-story structure will feature one level of below grade parking supplemented by an adjacent surface lot, an outdoor amenity space, and a new trail and green space along the eastern bank of the Chicago River. The complex is expected to house roughly 1,000 employees when it opens its doors in late 2018.