![Illinois-Center-3-View](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Illinois-Center-3-View.jpg)
Illinois Center is a
mixed-use
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
urban development
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
in downtown
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, USA, lying east of
Michigan Avenue. It is notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago,
some streets have two levels, with the lower level for through traffic and service vehicles and the upper level for other local traffic. In Illinois Center, the lower level has been split, with a middle level for through traffic and a lower level for service vehicles.
The development was built on land that had formerly been used for
railroad yard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...
s by the
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...
, which merged into the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
in 1999. The earliest building is One Illinois Center designed by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
and completed in 1970.
The west half of the rail yards were built out first; the east half was for a time turned into a temporary
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
on the lowest level, where the rail yards had been. The golf course has since been turned into a park, now surrounded by an
urban village
In urban planning and design, an urban village is an urban development typically characterized by medium-density housing, mixed use zoning, good public transit and an emphasis on pedestrianization and public space. Contemporary urban village ide ...
of high-rise buildings called
Lakeshore East
Lakeshore East is a master-planned mixed use urban development being built by the Magellan Development Group in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of the Loop, wh ...
.
The development consists of four blocks with a large area to the east. It is bounded on the west by
Michigan Avenue, which has two levels. Just east of that road, the upper level rises to become a higher third level, only accessible on the west edge of the development and at the east end of Upper
Wacker Drive
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, ''Streetwise Chicago'', "Wacker D ...
. Stetson Avenue and
Columbus Drive run north-south, and
Lake Street, South Water Street, and
Wacker Drive
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, ''Streetwise Chicago'', "Wacker D ...
run east-west.
Randolph Street
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east–west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/ I- ...
lies a block south of the main part, and forms the south border of the east half.
All of these streets are at least partly triple-decker. In the south half of the complex, the
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
Electric Lines and the
South Shore Line
The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport in ...
terminate, halfway between Michigan and Stetson Avenues, at
Millennium Station
Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal; sometimes called Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a major commuter rail terminal in the Loop (downtown), Chicago. It is the northern terminus of the Metra E ...
. An additional structure, Boulevard Towers East an 80-story mixed-use building was planned on the west side of Stetson between South Water and Lake Street but was cancelled. The site of this proposed building is the last remaining vacant lot in the Illinois Center complex, referred to by locals as the "Political Graveyard". Also proposed for this site was Mandarin Oriental Chicago.
On February 18, 2009, a report in ''
Crain's Chicago Business
''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including ''Advertising Age'', ''Modern Healthcare'' ...
'' stated that a
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
-based lender had filed a foreclosure suit against the developer, that the sale's center was closed and building units were no longer being marketed through the Multiple Listing Service. The project is no longer listed on the developer's website.
One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building) is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential's Mid-America company. It was the first skyscraper built in Chicago since the Great Depr ...
,
Two Prudential Plaza
The Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper located in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. At tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making it ...
and the
Aon Center are in the blocks south of the main part.
See also
*
Chicago Pedway
The Chicago Pedway is a network of tunnels, ground-level concourses and bridges connecting skyscrapers, retail stores, hotels, and train stations throughout the central business district of Chicago, Illinois.
With a length of more than 40 down ...
References
External links
*
{{Chicago
Skyscrapers in Chicago
Central Chicago