Chicago

Chicago

By ED McMANUS

New
life
for
the
Loop

BACK IN 1973, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley had an idea: Tear down the northern portion of Chicago's Loop and rebuild it. But like so many ambitious plans in Chicago in the 1970's, the project moved nowhere for years.

Now, finally, something is happening. It is realistic to predict - or, at least, to cautiously anticipate that in the next several years, the North Loop will be transformed. Coupled with the current office building boom in the Central Loop and construction of the State Street Mall (scheduled for completion this fall), it adds up to an impressive rejuvenation of the central business district, an area that was written off as a lost cause by many observers as recently as three or four years ago.

Ironically, the person most reponsible for wiping the dust off the North Loop plan may be on the outside looking in

when it is completed. He is real estate developer Arthur Rubloff.

The main reason the North Loop plan was not implemented all those years was that money from the private sector was not available. But last August, Rubloff came forward with a pledge to put up the money and unveiled his own plan of how the area ought to be redeveloped.

The city was cool to Rubloff. For one thing, he wanted special tax breaks. For another, he wanted the project done his way, and he wanted to do it all himself.

Seven months after Rubloff's plan was disclosed, the city came out with its own plan, and officials made it clear that Rubloff had not even been consulted about it. They made a point of inviting other developers to get involved. Since then, a group of Chicago banks has agreed to loan the city $50 million to acquire land.

The project, as currently planned, will encompass five of the six blocks bounded by Washington, Clark and State streets and Wacker Drive (the sixth block is where the Daley Center court house is) and portions of four adjoining blocks. The keystone will be an 1,800-room Hilton Hotel to be built at the north end of the area, on Wacker. Also envisioned — although not definitely planned is a two-block long, enclosed shopping center on the west side of State, and several office and apartment buildings.

The state of Illinois plans to build a new office building for itself at the corner of Clark and Randolph streets, adjoining the project, and a new public library is to be built just east of the project.

Shot in the arm
The decision of the Hilton Corp. to build in the North Loop was a terrific shot in the arm for the project. The federal government already has granted the city almost $8 million for land acquisition and demolition on one of the two blocks where the hotel will be located.

Backers of the project had some fears after Jane Byrne was elected mayor last spring, because Mrs. Byrne had indicated opposition to it during her campaign, suggesting that neighborhoods were more in need of development than the central business district. But she announced in July that she would go along with the plan.

The project calls for flattening virtually everything in the area and building from scratch. Only six buildings are definitely slated to be saved — the Chicago, Cinestage and Michael Todd theaters and the Reliance, Page Brothers and Ryan Insurance buildings. Seven other buildings are considered landmarks, and preservationists are concerned about their fate. City officials have indicated that decisions about them will be made a case-by-case basis. If their owners are willing to rehabilitate them or if new owners can be found, some of these buildings may be saved.

Ramifications for vitality
Originally, it was thought that the city would rely heavily on financial assistance from the federal government, but officials now have decided to apply for no more than the $8 million already authorized for the Hilton. One reason is that if federal funds were used, the city would be under more constraints in the destruction of landmarks designated by the federal government.

The next step in the project is to determine who the developers of various parcels will be. The city currently is advertising for developers. When sub-projects have been assigned, the wrecking crews will begin working. It is the largest demolish-and-rebuild program ever proposed for the downtown area of an American city, and its ramifications for the vitality of Chicago are enormous. The Loop, it appears, is coming back,

October 1979/ Illinois Issues/ 33