North Bridge’s Back Side Probed Again – Expansion Finally Coming?
It’s been a little over three years since we told you about the big plans for the Shops at North Bridge to get even bigger. Now Near North Spy Andy has registered a trio of photos with our Tip Line for us to check out. They show soil sampling crews busy sampling soil to see what lurks beneath the surface parking lot that now inhabits 53 East Illinois Street. This was formerly the location of a Lakeshore Athletic Club, but that...
Just Off the Mag Mile: A Shop is Born
Two years ago we told you that plans were afoot to double the size of the Magnificent Mile mall known as the Shops at North Bridge (520 North Michigan Avenue). Now those plans are being turned into reality. Near North Spy Harvey hit our Tip Line last week to alert us to the presence of soil sampling crews at 443 North Wabash Avenue. That’s the former location of the Lakeshore Athletic Club, and the place where Macerich and the...
Conrad Shown the Door; Gwen Is Here to Serve
You know the Conrad Chicago Hotel in the old McGraw Hill building at 520 North Michigan Avenue? Yeah, that doesn’t exist anymore. Instead, say “hello” to Gwen. Gwen, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Chicago is the new and unnecessarily cumbersome name for the hotel that used to be the Conrad, which used to be the Le Meridian, and the Hotel 21 before that. The name “Gwen” is at least a nod to the...
North Bridge Makes Historic Chicago Architecture More Public
As cities evolve and change they frequently undergo growing pains. One person’s idea of history can be another person’s idea of an impediment. Negotiations are settled. Tradeoffs are made. And sometimes compromise turns out to be an ugly baby. One of the more common architectural compromises made in Chicago is known as the facade-ectomy — The process by which an old building’s skin is preserved while a new...
Briefly: Wacker, Wolford, Wrenters
The new Wolford store in the Shops at North Bridge (520 North Michigan Avenue) opened on Friday (January 6th, 2012). Last Thursday we saw CDOT workers putting up new signs in preparation for Stage Three of the Wacker Drive reconstruction. The changes go into effect today (Monday, January 9, 2012) and it means traffic and transit pattern changes in the Loop and West Loop. If you go through this area, you’ll want to get the...
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (2011 edition, part six)
Our Gold Coast spy sent along this picture of the great big Christmas tree up at the Shops at 900 North Michigan. The 900 mall always does a great job with its tree, but this year the Shops at North Bridge (520 North Michigan Avenue) is really putting on a great display, even decorating that little gap between the up and down...
