The Lost Messages of Seahorses

Architects used to love to design buildings festooned with allegorical messages.  Because of an unusual coincidence of timing, technology, and the region's clay deposits, Chicago is one of the great terra cotta cities.

But what message is this building trying to convey through the ages?  The medallion on the left is a sailing ship braving rough seas.  In the center is a pair of canoodling seahorses.  And on the right, a mighty oak tree.

In the 1870's this was the James Stockton & Co. building -- some kind of retail establishment.  Today it's a McDonald's, and its secrets sleep with the Filet o' Fishes.

FlatTop Grill Opens at the Sullivan Center

The re-inventing of Chicago's venerated Sullivan Center takes another major step forward today (Monday, September 21, 2009) with the opening of FlatTop Grill.

Many people will remember the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) by its previous name -- the Carson Pirie Scott flagship store.  When Carson's pulled out of the Loop it was the latest in a series of devastating retail moves that continue to slowly turn Chicago into a generic Anytown, U.S.A.

But more importantly, it left Mayor Daley's favorite retail drag with a gaping cavity across the street from one of Hizzonor's recent successes, and down the street from another project that faces an uncertain future. Early notions of filling the huge space with a supermarket or other large-scale retail replacement for the department store failed.  Now, behind the scaffolding and plywood, the Sullivan Center is slowly being re-born one storefront at a time.

But the action isn't on State Street.  It's around back on a newly reborn section of Wabash Avenue.  A recent streetscape upgrade has done wonders for Jeweler's Row and businesses are responding.

The latest opening is the aforementioned FlatTop Grill.  It's moved into the Sullivan Center's storefront at 30 South Wabash.  Last week, the eatery's public relations company invited me in for a preview meal and to take some photographs.  I'm still wedded to my J-school ethics, so I declined the meal; but I'm always up to a sneak peek of anything new, so camera in tow I popped by on a glorious autumn afternoon.

Although many of the storefronts on this block are celebrated for the intricacy of their cast iron decorations, FlatTop landed in one of the more plain bays, with sadly boring brown rectangles beneath a tangle of fire escapes.  Perhaps it's Prairie School elegant; but I never really understood or appreciated the Prairie School aesthetics the way so many others do.

Inside, the 4,000 square-foot restaurant is a riot of red paint and chrome accents.  It has the feel of a darkened space, but everything is quite clearly visible.  Maybe it's the same red light trick that astronomers play on their pupils in order read their charts in the dark.  Though the impression is of darkness, it is very clean, inviting, and modern.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, FlatTop is a D.I.Y. stir-fry joint.  Think of it as the stir-fry bar at Big Bowl, but large enough to take up an entire restaurant.  You pick your meats, your sauces (who knew there were 20 sauces in the world?), and vegetables -- then bring them to the grill where they're prepared for you and delivered to your table.  I recommend forgoing the table entirely, and cozying up to the row of stools that run alongside the prep area so you get lunch and a show.

The space is divided into three areas:

• A welcome center which contains the maître d's station and a small but efficient bar where you can have a drink while waiting for your friends.
• The main room where two parallel self-serve bars funnel you toward the cooking area.
• And a back dining room, which is considerably more intimate, welcoming, and tranquil than the cacophony out front.

If you're with someone you want to actually talk with, I recommend asking for seats in back.  When I was there, the place was packed with a practice lunch and I could tell that the din of people and preparation was making it hard for some diners to hear their companions.

This is FlatTop's 14th location in Chicagoland and beyond, and the first that I know of that was built in a historic property.  In fact, the press release for the opening proudly touts the Sullivan Center location as a selling point.  Yet, inside I saw no evidence that any effort was made to preserve this architectural legacy.  The ceilings have some services exposed, but the entire area is painted black so if there are any architectural details up there to witness, you'll need a flashlight to see them.  The space is certainly slightly unusually shaped, but that can happen with any restaurant in a competitive market and isn't specific to this location.

Still, Flat Out Crazy's C.E.O Frederic Mayerson said, "Being in the newly renovated Sullivan Center ramps up the energy and excitement that already surrounds a FlatTop restaurant. Guests in the Loop will discover it's a fun and friendly restaurant to hang out with friends over breakfast, lunch or dinner."  That's all well and nice, but exactly how does being in the Sullivan Center "ramp up the energy?"  FlatTop spent two years prepping this location, so I asked its PR company to elaborate on why all signs of this location's history appear to have been obliterated.  When I get an answer, I'll post a follow-up report.

If you live or work in the Loop and are looking for a good, quick, different lunch, then FlatTop Grill seems like a great option.  I'm not a restaurant critic, so I'm unqualified to comment on the quality of the food (another part of the reason I refused the meal mentioned above).  But everything looked fresh and smelled delicious.  The space is like Ikea meets Kate Spade meets Big Bowl -- but in a good way.  Service seemed prompt, but of course at a lunch where all of the managers are watching, of course it is.

Still, I think FlatTop Grill will be great addition to the neighborhood, and I plan to stop by for lunch in the next few weeks.  I recommend everyone else do the same to welcome this business to the neighborhood, and support more businesses in the Loop.

• Open for dinner starting September 21st.
• Open for lunch and dinner September 22nd.
• Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner September 23rd and onward.
• Vegetarian-friendly
• Allergy-friendly
• 8:00am-9:00pm Sunday through Thursday
• 8:00am-10:00pm Friday, Saturday

More photos below:

Slice of Life: Wrought Iron on Wabash

It's easy to overlook the magnificent grillwork above 434 South Wabash Avenue, considering it's in a recessed alcove and doesn't look like it's been washed in decades.  But this just proves that there are wonderful things lurking in the dark corners of Chicago.

Slice of Life: Trump Above the Tracks

If the Wabash elevated line continued north, it would plow right through the Trump International Hotel and Tower at 401 North Wabash Avenue.  Too bad it doesn't, because the combination of massive tower, a drawbridge over the river, and a passage through a building would certainly be a great engineering feat, and make a heck of a great post card.

Wamu Vamooses from The Fordham

We're Washington Mutual customers, so imagine our surprise when we found this the other day:

The Wamu branch on the ground floor of The Fordham is closed.  We knew all along that the merger with Chase would mean some Wamu branches would be closed.  We were prepared for that.  In fact, Chase helped us prepare by sending us a letter listing which branches would be closed in our neighborhood.  This one was not on the list.

The sad part is that it's another empty hole in an already hard to fill retail corridor.  The gravitational pull of nearby North Michigan Avenue is so great that it's hard to get any businesses to move onto Wabash that aren't specifically catering to neighborhood residents.  And there's already a deli, a nail salon, and a dry cleaner on the block.

For those of you who are also Washington Mutual clients, the next nearest locations are up near Viagra Triangle, or on Michigan Avenue south of the Chicago River.

Details About the IBM Building Hotel Conversion

More details are coming out about the conversion of a portion of 330 North Wabash (the old One IBM Plaza) into a hotel.  I was at a meeting recently with John Rutledge, the C.E.O. of Oxford Capital.  That's the company doing the conversion, and he had some very interesting things to say.

The big question in everyone's minds these days is, "Is this really going to happen?"  The answer at this time is "yes."  The project was not financed with debt, so when the debt markets crashed and sent the economy into a tailspin it was no big whoop for Oxford Capital.

That said, Oxford is not in any particular hurry to complete the project.  There's some asbestos abatement that has to be done, and Oxford plans to take its sweet time with that in order to help wait out the recession.  The original plan was to begin work in 2009 and open in 2010.  Now the plan is to start in the spring or summer of 2010, if there are signs that the economy is recovering.

Oxford bought floors 2-13 of the building on March 18, 2008.  It actually had to fend off competing bids from two other hotel companies that wanted to do the conversion.  Because of the way Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the building, it's a very easy conversion from office to hotel.

As part of the purchase, Oxford petitioned the city to have the building landmarked.  This helped make the financing possible because it lowered the property taxes the hotel will pay from the higher hotel rate down to a landmark rate, which is similar to the rate being paid when it was offices.  It's the youngest building in Chicago to receive landmark status, and the carrot used to get the city to approve the idea was the estimated $50 to $80 million dollars a year in taxes that hotel is expected to generate.

Some people have wondered if a hotel in the old IBM Building can compete with Trump's hotel just next door.  Rutledge thinks the answer is once again, "yes."  In fact, he says the success of the Trump Tower actually made 330 North Wabash more valuable as a hotel.  Moreover, it fits in with Mayor Daley's plan to turn the main branch of the Chicago River into the city's next big tourist destination.  "The New Gold Coast" is what the Chicago Tribune once called it, but that may be something of an overstatement.

As for the proximity of the Trump Tower to the IBM Building, it's not as bad as you might think.  At its closest, the Trump International Hotel and Tower is 120 feet away from 330 North Wabash.  From the ground it's a tight fit, but the view from the windows above is supposed to still be pretty good.  In spite of the proximity of Trump they're supposed to be among the best hotel views in downtown Chicago.  As someone who's stayed at the Hotel 71 , I can imagine that might be true.  Also, Rutledge claims that design of the building will allow the hotel to have the largest luxury rooms in the city.

The hotel will be managed by Noble House Hotels in a joint venture with the Hotel Sax next door.  People who work in the building will have access to the hotel's amenities.  And having a one million square foot office building on top of the hotel is a benefit because it means you have a built-in customer base for their visiting clients as well as for large meetings.

Speaking of meetings, there will be some alteration to the building.  The most drastic measure will be the removal of a portion of one of the floors in order to create a two-story ballroom.  The ballroom will be about 5,000 square feet.  Other changes include the addition of a green roof, and a slight reconfiguration of the lobby.

Details are still being worked out, but the lobby may be divided into two separate spaces, one for the hotel and one for the office.  Another idea is to simply have a welcome desk in the lobby and an elevator which takes guests to the second-floor sky lobby for registration.  That second floor is already planned to have a restaurant, a bar, and a lounge, so moving check-in up there isn't that big a deal.  Still, at this time it's all very fluid.  The Four Seasons at the Seagram Building in New York is being eyed as a model.

How about a name and a brand?  Well, there will be no brand.  Rutledge wants the hotel to stand on its own and maybe become the flagship property of a new luxury brand, so it will not be affiliated with any of the existing hotel chains.  As for a name, that hasn't been decided yet.  Oxford looked into doing something like "The IBM Hotel" in order to tap into the building's history, but trademark issues won't allow that to happen.

And speaking of pipe dreams -- Rutledge floated a very interesting fantasy for the hotel that utilizes its luxury status and its location.  He imagines the hotel's concierge service dispatching a classic wooden motor boat like a Chris-Craft to pick up guest arriving by train at Union Station, and then cruise up the river to a private dock next to the hotel so they can arrive in style.  It sounds a little extravagant considering the number of people who arrive in Chicago by train these days, but maybe in partnership with Trump and the Hotel Sax he might just be on to something.

Confection Selections in the Loop

It seems like you can't swing a lollypop without hitting a sweet shop in downtown Chicago these days.  That's a good thing.  In spite of setbacks like the closing of the Australian ice cream shop in Macy's State Street, and the closing of Moonstruck Chocolates on Michigan Avenue (home to the comfiest chairs and most senseless lack of wifi in the state), the chocolate biz seems very healthy.  Maybe in a recession, the simple things still hold their appeal.

Yesterday we went by More Cupcakes (1 East Delaware Place -- near Bughouse Newberry Square).  While not the smallest shop on Delaware Place (there are two smaller that we know of), it has its charms.  Spartan futuristic glass shelves hold a grid of cupcakes from which you can select.  They all looked yummy, but we didn't buy any because the store as a whole had that "oh-so-cooler-than-thou" vibe to it.  Cupcakes should be homey and inviting, not something out of Zoolander.  Maybe it's a good thing we passed, because the reviews of the shop on Yelp say the prices are way out of line.

The rehabilitation of Wabash Street continues to impress, and has drawn two new sweet shops near the back of Macy's Field's.

The first is called Sugar Bliss Café Boutique.  It looks very inviting, and has a miniscule seating area where you can watch the world go by.

The other is an old Chicago standby -- Fannie May.  After the bankruptcy a couple of years ago we thought we'd never see a new Fannie May outlet open, let alone one that's just two blocks from the flagship store on Michigan Avenue.  But let the tourists have the flagship.  If the future of Fannie May is tiny neighborhood shops like this one, then we're all for it.

Of course, our favorite chocolate place is a little hole-in-the-wall on Wabash around 11th or 13th Street.  It's on the west side of the street and it's a one-man operation where dozens of wonderful varieties of chocolates and truffles are lovingly made by hand in the back of the room.  The owner is super nice, and even if you can only afford one or two chocolates after a hard day at work or class, it's a great pick-me-up. All chocolates are priced by the pound, so our tip is to go for the chocolates instead of the truffles -- you get more for your money that way.

With all this sweet action happening on Wabash, maybe the street will change its name from Jeweler's Row to Confectioner's Row.

Slice of Life: Trump's Helix

While the building is still not completed, and the reviews are mixed, Donald Trump's Trump International Hotel and Tower is starting to grow on us.  The spire on top helps make it seem more complete, even though we dismiss it as a height manipulation stunt.  But the base is not without its charms.

The public sidewalk is still closed, but the parking garage is open and that necessitates a way to get in and out.  In this case, local shop SOM designed an illuminated helix tacked on to the north side of the tower.  The lighting is nice and adds a good bit of visual interest to what could have just been a hole in the wall.  SOM did a similar helix with another of its supertowers, the John Hancock Center.  But in Big John's case, it's only lit up during cold weather because the lighting is actually heat lamps to keep the outdoor ramp from icing up.

We still aren't in love with the top of Trump's Chicago tower, but the bottom is turning out nice anyway.

Time-Lapse Video: Assembling Trump's Spire

After weeks of delays, it finally happened -- on January 3, 2009 the spire was finally assembled at the top of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago.  Doing so raises the building's height to 1,326 feet, making it the second-tallest building in the city, and the third-tallest in North America (if, of course, you count spires but not antennae).  

The spire isn't quite done yet.  With the exception of three sections, it remains unsheathed.  And it remains to be seen how it will be lit.  Right now there's just a steady red beacon on top.  It would be nice if it got the white illumination and a white strobe to match the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center.

The video posted here is a smaller, but better quality version of the video that we posted on YouTube late last week.  

The largest and best version on the net is over at the Artefaqs Corporation gallery. 

If you like time-lapse city movies, see our other ones on our YouTube page.

The Artefaqs Corporation owns the Chicago Architecture Blog, Chicago Architecture Info, and a brazillion other architecture web sites around the world.

Miracle on Chicago Avenue: Update 2

Well, just hours after our last update, Crain's Chicago Business published an article filling in the blanks for us .

Looks like the cost of the project is $9,000,000 and will be five stories tall.  And in spite of the hopeful fencing, demolition isn't imminent.

Miracle on Chicago Avenue: Update

Well, that didn't take long.  Word on the street (literally -- I ran into someone on the street with the answer) is that the demolition of the Dunkin' Donuts, Tony's, the vacant storefront, and the sidewalk newsstand on Chicago Avenue is a Loyola project.  Considering that explosive growth of that institution's physical plant, I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

The existing building has the address of 24 East Chicago Avenue, and was built in 1989.

I'm told that it's going to be ground-floor retail, topped by offices, and five stories of classrooms.  There will be a walkway connecting to the Loyola University Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street.

As for the stores that are soon-to-be-demolished -- they're welcome to return when the new building is finished in 2010, if they want to pay many thousands of dollars in higher rent to be in the new building.  The Dunkin' Donuts franchisee is expected to decline.

This is just the latest in Loyola Universtiy's rapid expansion of its Water Tower campus.  It also recently purchased the 1890 Chicago-State Building and the surface lot next to it for $40 million.  While that building is scuzzy, too, hopefully it can be rehabilitated instead of demolished.