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Negro Digest offices, State Street
Ebony magazine, 1992
Ebony magazine, 1992
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Since the Chicago Defender moved on from its former headquarters at 2400 South Michigan Avenue in the mid-2000s, the building's future has been up in the air. The site was acquired shortly after the Defender's departure by a venture headed by restaurateur and developer Matthew O'Malley. However, in 2011, Chicago Business reported that O'Malley was facing a $3.3 million foreclosure lawsuit from the First Chicago Bank & Trust, relating to an outstanding loan on the property dating back to its purchase in 2007. In 2014 the building was acquired again, this time by a venture group led by Chicago developer Alexander Pearsall, who reportedly paid $6 million for a bulk lot that included the newspaper's former headquarters as well as a number of smaller commercial buildings adjacent to the property and a parcel of land to its rear. Pearsall quickly moved to lease the building and commercial structures to the Revel Group, an events management and production company based in the Chicago area. At the time of the sale, Chicago Business reported on Revel's plans to use the building as the cornerstone of a new development at the south end of Motor Row, and as a showcase for future event spaces in the area. Revel president Britt Whitfield outlined plans to redevelop the site into a mixed use building, with a close focus on restoring its original woodworking, stained glass and architectural details. "Situated across from Chicago’s premiere convention center, McCormick Place, the new venue will help fuel the resurgence of the neighborhood into a thriving entertainment district. Motor Row’s versatile event space will accommodate up to 2,500 for cocktail parties and 1,000 for seated dinners."I've included some images of the restoration below, courtesy of the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance. As you can see, the interiors of the building were in pretty bad repair after years of neglect. The development was originally slated to open in 2016, however that has now been pushed back to April 2017. Revel certainly appear to have kept their promise of celebrating the building's historic features, with heavy reference to both its role as the Defender's headquarters and its former significant as the home of the Illinois Automobile Club prominent in press releases and promotional material. While new images of the interior have yet to be released, renderings of the space offer an exciting glimpse into its potential as a new hot-spot for Motor Row district.
As recently reported on Chicago Architecture, architecture and planning firm KTGY and Anexis Development have joined forces to develop the former home of Muhammad Speaks at 2548 South Federal Avenue into a mixed-use building. This is one of the first significant projects undertaken by the Chicago-branch of KGTY since the California-based firm expanded into the Midwest with new offices around a year ago. Initial plans look to develop around 12,0000 square feet of retail space on the building's first two floors, and then repurpose the floors above for use as residential property. The provisional name for the development is 'Federal Street Lofts', although it wouldn't be a surprise to see this change as the project developments. Most usefully for this project, media coverage of the development also included newly released architectural drawings of the site, providing a more in-depth look at its exterior and interior design. See an external shot of the building and an internal plan of the third floor below, or click on the link above for more plans. It will be interesting to see how much demand there is for new condominiums and retail space around the Stevenson Expressway corridor. Development on the Loop and the Near South Side has rebounded impressively from the Recession, although as of yet this hasn't filtered down to Douglas and Bronzeville. Situated close to the I-94 and within ten minutes walk of both Chinatown and McCormack Place Metro stations, its possible the project could usher in further development.
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