What's Hot | On the Map: Chicago, Illinois
What happens to a street built for the automobile trade when the trade moves on?
Chicago's Motor Row shows one outcome. South Michigan Avenue's showrooms, repair shops and parts stores were designated a Chicago Landmark District in 2000, and former auto buildings now host a brewery, a jazz venue and event space.
A street can be built around a product and outlast it.
Shortly after 1900, South Michigan Avenue in Chicago became the city's automobile row. The City of Chicago's landmark description says the district shows the evolution of the showroom and related buildings, from simple two-story structures for display and offices to multi-story buildings housing departments for the repair, storage, painting and finishing of automobiles. WBEZ adds repair shops and parts stores to the mix.
The location was chosen with care. WBEZ reports Henry Ford put his dealership there to be near the wealthy clientele on Prairie Avenue, and the Auto Show at the Coliseum on Wabash drew car companies to the area. The city's description says as many as 116 makes were sold at the peak.
Then the Depression arrived, and the district became, in WBEZ's words, “sort of a forgotten island” for decades.
Today the Sun-Times describes a restored Illinois Automobile Club building at 2400 S. Michigan, reopened as an event space in spring 2017, and a craft brewery at 2337 S. Michigan in a building whose historic tenant was the Federal Motor Car Company.
What it shows: a corridor that served one trade for a century offers a new tenant mix something rare, deep floor plates and street frontage built for people who came to look and stay. Adaptive reuse follows destinations, not just buildings.
The question worth asking: if the original trade left tomorrow, which of this block's physical features would a different tenant still pay for? For landmark questions, ask the City of Chicago's landmarks staff.
If you are weighing a building with a single-use past, send the address and we will map who else it could serve.