Mag Mile landmark close to going condo
By Johnathon E. Briggs
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 8, 2007, 8:02 PM CST
Two months after rejecting a similar plan, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on Thursday approved a controversial proposal to dismantle a landmark building on the Magnificent Mile and rebuild it as part of a luxury condo development.
The plan by Prism Development Co. calls for removing the limestone facade of the 1920s Farwell Building at 664 N. Michigan Ave., former site of the Terra Museum of American Art. Prism would then demolish the 11-story building, erect a new structure and reapply the facade.
"We would not suggest that this become a norm," said Commission Chairman David Mosena, who voted for the proposal. "It is a radical approach. But I believe that the condition of this building from its historical outset and the way it is today calls for a radical approach."
In January, the commission rejected Prism's first proposal by a narrow margin. But the developer's second proposal was approved Thursday by eight of the nine commissioners, apparently convinced there was no other way to save the Farwell.
Commissioner Edward Torrez opposed the plan, as he did in January. It now goes to the City Council for final approval.
Unlike its first proposal, Prism would use four floors of the Farwell Building for parking, rather than six. There would be retail space on the first and second floors, office space on floors three to five and residential parking on floors six through nine.
By raising parking from the third floor to the sixth floor, parked or moving vehicles would not be visible from the public way, Prism officials said.
But the changes didn't appease critics, who said the plan turns the beaux-arts/art deco building into a multilevel parking garage for the condo tower.
"Despite the well-documented condition of the building's cladding, we cannot sanction the wholesale demolition of a landmark building," Landmarks Illinois President David Bahlman told the commission.
Preservationists contend the proposal makes a mockery of Chicago's landmarks ordinance, which calls for historic buildings to be preserved in their entirety. They fear the plan sets a terrible precedent for owners of landmarks to pursue demolition and reconstruction without demonstrating the economic hardship that makes such actions necessary.
City planning officials and Prism argued that it is an economically viable way—maybe the only way—to save the distressed Farwell, designed by architect Philip Maher.
The reuse is part of a project that includes an adjacent 40-story development designed by Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange that would encroach onto 33 percent of Farwell's original footprint. The development would have office and retail space, parking and 86 luxury condos dubbed the Ritz-Carlton Residences.
In January, structural engineers told the commission that building's facade is being held together by a system of metal pins, because the original structure system has eroded.
Engineers also concluded that "inherent design deficiencies in the original design and construction" are to blame for the building's state. For example, the building's 4-inch-thick, 1,000-pound limestone panels are attached to a hollow clay tile behind the walls.
Preservationists point out that though the McGraw-Hill Building at 520 N. Michigan Ave. was skinned and put back together in 1998, only that building's facade had landmark status. The Farwell would be the first landmarked building to be radically changed, they said.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070308farwell,1,1402635.story?coll=chi-news-hed
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