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Chicago Apparel Mart in the SkyscraperPage Database

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  #21  
Old Posted Jun 14, 2009, 3:55 AM
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nature's calling nature's calling is offline
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That building would of been such a gem.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2009, 7:30 AM
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Dylan Leblanc Dylan Leblanc is offline
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Made a database entry for this building if any illustrators are interested - http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=83572
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  #23  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2009, 8:21 AM
denizen467 denizen467 is offline
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Imagine if the East Side had developed into an office district instead of the LaSalle or Wacker corridors ... the implications are huge. The business district, and hotels and tourist attractions, would have been much closer to the lake. And farther from the train stations. And a "platinum coast" such as we have with LSE today could not have emerged. Etc.

Just to diminish the disappointment though -- there are many examples of massive early-20th-century buildings around the Loop that never survived to this century because they were inefficient. (I think the Morrison Hotel was the tallest example of those demolished.) So who knows whether this would have survived to today anyway. Even if it did, it might be a quasi-white elephant like the main post office, with possibly an eventual destination of death row.
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  #24  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2009, 8:26 AM
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ardecila ardecila is offline
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I doubt it. All things equal, it would be a massive amount of square footage close to the economic powerhouse of the city: Michigan Avenue. It would probably have retained a mix of uses, changing dynamically to reflect the city's evolving economy, but it would still be well-used today.

The Post Office has had so many non-starts largely because of its location, not its size. It is in the wrong place for most of the serious proposals that have come its way... nobody really wants to live, or stay, in that area yet.

The Merchandise Mart, obviously, has found a successful model by combining showrooms and retail with exhibition space and offices.

denizen: I believe the Morrison bit the dust because First Chicago wanted an entire block, and Morrison happened to own one. On any other block, there would have been multiple owners, and some of them probably would have refused to sell. Morrison, faced with a declining downtown and fewer and fewer guests, folded up shop and sold out.
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