336 N. Michigan Ave
 

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/s...axw368q100.jpg

CRED.COM

Jeweler buys Michigan Avenue building

By: Abraham Tekippe August 10, 2012
- 336 N. Michigan Ave. Photo from CoStar Group Inc. -

(Crain's) — After spending several years leasing storefronts up and down Michigan Avenue, a local jeweler has found a permanent setting.

A venture affiliated with Chicago-based Nakamol Design LLC bought the six-story building at 336 N. Michigan Ave., which housed the now-shuttered Sixty-Five Chinese Restaurant & Bakery, for $2.9 million — nearly three times what the restaurant's owner paid when he bought the building in 1990, property records show.

Nakamol, which currently leases space at 326 N. Michigan Ave, plans to renovate and occupy all six floors of the 12,000-square-foot building, the new owners said.
...
The building is on a stretch of Michigan Avenue — between Millennium Park and the Magnificent Mile — that has become a hotspot for retailers in recent years, driven by dramatic increases in hotel density, residential density and pedestrian traffic, said Gregory Kirsch, a principal in the Chicago office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, a New York-based brokerage.

“Market rents five years ago were about $50 per foot and now they're up to about $125 per foot,” said Mr. Kirsch, who was not involved in the sale. “That market is a home run, a no brainer; if I was buying, that's where I'd buy.”

...
The couple said they are in the early stages of “a complete gut rehab” of the building, the first two floors of which will be used for retail space. The third floor will house a showroom for the company's wholesale business — Nakamol currently has deals with big-name retailers like Nordstrom Inc., Neiman Marcus and Anthropologie, among others — while the remaining space, including two floors below Michigan Avenue, will be used for storage.

The total cost of the project has yet to be determined, but the couple said they hope to have the retail space finished by Dec. 1.

Read more: http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...#ixzz23F2W9U3R
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Hopefully by "Gut Rehab" they include stripping off that hideous Faux front.

Anyone have photos of the original facade?

Thanks for that update, hydro. The plaid framework installation seems to be extremely labor intensive. Lookin' good.

I guess it's too late now, but I hate to see Michigan Avenue turn into a collection of temporary merchandising displays, little different from a suburban arterial where every fast-food chain has its own peculiarly shaped disposable building: a barrel-vaulted Arby's next to a fedora-roofed Pizza Hut, then a diagonal-entry Circuit City next to an A-frame Whataburger. It's 40 mph architecture that's unnecessary—even pointless—on a pedestrian shopping street.

"When we build, let us think that we build forever."

The building has looked that way since the 30's. I wasn't aware it was a faux facade. Always thought it was built this way.

^No, that brick and precast is less than 10 years old. I'll see if I can find an old picture, but it was probably terra cotta that had to be repaired or removed.

When it was the Hartmarx building:
http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cd...ISOBOX=1&REC=5

Look at the wild front on the building next door!

^ Can you not tell the difference between the design of the Burberry store and a "barrel-vaulted Arby's"?

Besides, over time there will continue to be fewer sites on the Mag Mile where retailers can build such distinctive, stand-alone stores.

^Not in a philosophical sense. They're both mimetic architecture designed only to sell the products of the current tenant.

That's fun when we're talking about stucco tamales or donuts on the midcentury strips of Southern California. Embarrassing on a boulevard that aspires to be world-class shopping. How exactly is this Burberry's different from the Rainforest Cafe?

I agree that reuse of this building will be extremely costly - a new owner will need to either accept the Burberry striping or totally replace the facade.

This relatively-new trend of flagship architecture isn't always bad, but it is when the design if the building so perfectly mirrors the brand of the company. Plus, it robs the city of a chance to have some talented architect, local or otherwise, design something really special and unique.

^ I doubt Burberry will be selling this building any time soon, and in case they do, any potential buyer will be figuring the cost of changing the facade in their asking price.

In other words, the more "work" your building needs, the less its resale value.

^ Rainforest Cafe caters to suburbanites with young children
Burberry caters to style concious people who can afford ridiculously overpriced apparel.

The latter perfectly fits into a district with "world class shopping". The former does not.

Seems simple to me.

^I never knew that architectural merit depended on the identity of the tenant.

After living on Oak for about 3 years now I've come accustomed to stores totally replacing facades. That's why vacant structures are currently plywood painted black. The burberry store isn't anything different from this trend, just bigger.

^ Yes, Apple has been doing this for years.

Does the distinctive Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan make that avenue any less of a "World Class shopping district"?

Scale matters. A small storefront on Oak is easy to redesign. This will be a white elephant the second Burberry leaves.

Why is Burberry leaving? They've had a store on this site since at least the 80's.

I.Magnin and Barneys were successfully redeveloped and I expect the same if Burberry or Crate & Barrel go under.

Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona has a few shops with custom facades, such as the Hugo Boss store. I don't think it makes it any less world class (an overused term, btw).

Because this is the only Burberry location in the world with this design. Your example of Rainforest Cafe is reproduced world wide, with the same aesthetics, the same low quality finishes and the same tacky theme. Yes it is designed specifically for the brand, but it is still a unique design, one that brings a bit of panache to a otherwise modest shopping corridor.

So they have yet to complete the building and we are already talking about what will happen once they leave? Don't be silly... this isn't a tenant lease, this isn't a alteration to a historic structure and this design isn't a visual scar on the boulevard... Burberry is the owner and if they ever leave they will be forced to deal with the sale, ultimately factoring in the cost of facade renovation for the new owner. Which could be decades from now.

Or Ginza with the SANAA Dior, Herzog and de Meuron Prada, Toyo Ito Tods, and Ricardo Bofill Dior... all within stones throw from one another.

Not entirely true. Burberry Taipei, Beijing, and Hong Kong all have a similar design. But its not like there is going to be one in every city like this, so I think that is still mostly a valid point.

On that note, I wonder if our Burberry plaid will be back lit like this:
http://www.butterboom.com/tag/burberry/