Built as an exuberant Art Deco sausage factory in 1931, the Richter's Food Products Building in West Loop is an illuminating stand-in for the last 90 years of the neighborhood: from meatpacking to a furniture showroom to the one-time headquarters of developer Sterling Bay, who made their name (and a ton of money) defining the modern West Loop. It also parallels the broader trajectory of urban economies, with mass production replaced by real estate and financialization.
