Construction of a private social club at 205 West Superior Street in River North has been permitted to begin construction by the City of Chicago. Issued on November 13, the permit allows for the foundations of a five-story structure to include a restaurant, a spa, and an unspecified number of hotel gusts rooms.
Photo by Daniel Schell
The club takes over the lot created by the controversial demolition of the buildings at 720 North Wells Street and 207 West Superior Street. While the Superior building’s demise didn’t cause much of a stir, 720 North Wells was one of the oldest and nicer remaining post-fire structures in the city. Having reportedly “fallen through the cracks” of a possible historic preservation, it was torn down this summer. A small amount of demolition remains to be done at the site, but for the most part, it is now a barren lot.
720 North Wells demolition, June 2024. Photo by Daniel Schell
720 North Wells, left, and 207 West Superior. Photo by Daniel Schell
Details about the social club have been few and far between, though rumors and reports have trickled through the grapevine. We know from the permit that GREC Architects is acting as the Architect of Record; indications have been made that New York City’s Robert A. M. Stern Architects is the design architect of the new building. Bulley & Andrews will serve as the general contractor. The developer is named only as an LLC, The Lake Property Owner, with an address located in the River Point office tower.
Foundation permit issued 11/13/2024, via Chicago Data Portal
207 West Superior demolition permit, issued 04/01/2024, via Chicago Data Portal
720 North Wells demolition permit, issued 04/01/2024, via Chicago Data Portal
No parking spaces are mentioned in the permit for the club, and none were included in either of the two buildings that were demolished. As this is appears to be a members-only facility, the possibility of valet parking service seems likely. There is some street parking on Superior Street, and the site sits one block from the Chicago Brown/Purple Line elevated platform, while the Route 37 bus is located a block south, at Wells and Huron.
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Mixed-use/history/beauty now a pile of rubble, about to be a private, single-use, sanctuary for rich folks. A good rule: Mixed-use buildings survive economic trouble; single use not so much. This is an ongoing disgrace for the City, and for Brendan Reilly, who could have fought against this, but, apparently, didn’t. “It’s out of our hands” is the response I got from his office. The mysterious owner (Shaun Matthews) made no response when I reached out on LinkedIn. And if this private club eventually goes out of business, River North ends up with yet another impossible-to-find-use-for modern hulk. Just walk around the ward and you’ll see what I mean. Again, this is a disgrace, and a warning to us and to the Historic Preservation Division: what will you do to make sure no more beautiful, contextual, historical buildings “slip through the cracks”? .
Kit this was so well put. Shame on on Reilly for his standoffish approach to historical building preservation.
That building has been empty for over 5 years!?!? I love everyone’s opinions of what other people should do with their property…
This was possibly the worst failure of Chicago’s landmark committee of all time. Not only that just a sad testament to the awful real estate & architectural community here. For all the talk of how Chicago is an architectural leader it seems hell bent on tearing down all it’s classic building stock and erecting bland, sterile junk.