THE LOOP — A new apartment tower will replace a squat, vacant Michigan Avenue building a few blocks from Millennium Park, according to a report.
A venture between Chicago-based Sterling Bay and Magellan Development is "drawing up" plans for a tower that would replace the four-story brick building at 300 N. Michigan Ave., according to the Tribune.
Real estate observers have wondered what the future held for the building ever since its last tenant moved out last year. Sterling Bay, which owns the site, had recently pursued redeveloping the property into higher-end retail or selling it, but its apparent plans now call back to the site's pre-bubble past.
A different developer once wanted to build a 52-story tower on the site including a hotel, apartments and retail, but that 2008 plan quickly fizzled during the ensuing recession. Sterling Bay acquired the building at a discount after buying a delinquent loan on the property and winning a so-called deed-in-lieu of foreclosure three years ago, court records show.
A tower would join a smattering of new (or new in heart) high-rises on the strip of Michigan Avenue south of the Chicago River. Mila, a nearby apartment tower at Michigan and Lake streets, opened last year along with the LondonHouse Hotel at Michigan and Wacker. The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel at 12 S. Michigan Ave. is just a few blocks south. A new Apple store is under construction on the north bank of the Chicago River, further signifying the shift in Downtown Chicago's center of retail gravity.
Sterling Bay and Magellan are two of the most active developers in the city. Sterling Bay, known best for its prolific West Loop projects, is building McDonald's new headquarters and won the right to redevelop the Finkl Steel site along the north branch of the Chicago River. Magellan built the massive Lakeshore East neighborhood including Aqua tower and is currently busy building Vista, a supertall skyscraper that will soon be the third tallest in the city.
Spokeswomen for Sterling Bay and Magellan did not return messages left late Wednesday.
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