Site prep is underway at 205 West Superior Street in River North for The Lake, a private social club on the southwest corner of Wells and Superior Streets. Foundation work was permitted back in November, but the site had remained idle after demolitions of the two structures previously at this location were completed last year.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Official information about the club remains scarce. We know the name “The Lake” from correspondence in an attempt to obtain renderings of the building, which have not been made public, and have not been shared with us. The foundation permit, issued on November 13, 2024, indicates this will be a five-story with lower level masonry building with restaurant space, a spa, and an unspecified number of hotel guest rooms.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
A pending permit in the Chicago Data Portal with an application date of January 14th will allow for the full building to be constructed once it is issued. It included no further details about the club than does the foundation permit.
The Lake Property Owner LLC is named as the developer, with GREC Architects as the architect of record. Bulley & Andrews is the general contractor. Currently, crews and equipment from John Keno & Company are on site with excavators, working on what was left of the old foundations.
The Lake social club replaces 720 North Wells, left, and 207 West Superior, at right. Photo by Daniel Schell
720 North Wells demolition, June 2024. Photo by Daniel Schell
Neither permit for 205 West Superior mentions on-site parking, despite the presence of a lower level. It is presumed valet parking will be available for members and patrons, and the Chicago Brown Line platform is mere steps away at Superior and Franklin Streets.
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I was sad to see the old historic buildings torn down, now I am concerned for what is being built. I hope it does somehow add something to the neighborhood.
Did you say McDonald’s drive-thru?
I recall seeing a rough rendering a few months back (pre-demolition). Its going to be a faux-historic looking masonry structure around 4-5 floors and will occupy the full lot.
boo
Any reason why they put, i assume, vapor barrier up on that building? It had been without for decades.
The plastic tarp is to separate the new wall from sticking to the existing neighborhood building when the concertos poured. Chicago doesn’t have a concept of share party walls in atta h buildings like in older cities in the Northeast. So everyone lot is built like it’s a single detach building even if they’re abutting each other. That’s my observation.
The autocorrect annoying. I meant to say…to keep the new concrete wall from from bonding to the old neighboring wall.
Shameful loss of beautiful and rare history, and not even to build much needed housing. Our history is being ruined by people who probably aren’t even from here.
It’s the alderman’s fault — he should have helped protect these buildings when he had the chance
He was too busy fighting a very successful pedestrian plaza on Clark when this all went down. Now, the vacant lot has been a strong advocate for mismanaged priorities. For example, maybe the long-abandoned Rainforest Cafe should have been demoed first. Adding more blight to an area doesn’t help attract strained investors.
Yeah he’s anti urban scum. Definitely in my top 5 most disliked alder creatures
Fun fact: If you google “The Lake Social Club Chicago” you’ll find what is supposedly a render of this project on BLDUP.com. Whether that’s real or not is yet to be determined but it sure looks nice.
looks a lot nicer than what was there
that is quite a beautiful drawing. if it’s constructed well it will end up being aesthetically more pleasing than what was there. Stern does really beautiful low and mid-rise work so I am optimistic. Thanks for sharing!!
Kind of a classic London private club vibe. GREC does interesting work – and they’re local. When I first looked into it, pre-demolition, it was a high-end New York firm. There is no “future projects” page on GREC’s website – so we have to take the rendering on faith. The New York firm did similar style projects – so the Lake co. seems to want to maintain the fabric.
Ah that makes sense it’s GREC. they did One Bennet Park so they’ve worked with AM Stern before.
Still salty about this one
But The Lake is not by the lake…
I managed the Cairo nightclub located at 720 Wells over 35 years ago. The club drew huge, diverse crowds and was a “happening” spot in Chicago’s nightlife scene. One night we hired Aretha Franklin to sing at a private party – that was a wild night!
It pains me to see that bldg torn down…it could survive an atomic blast!