Streeterville

Most sources support the black Streeterville borders as shown above, but the City of Chicago officially only includes the smaller region inside the red borders.

The Magnificent Mile is generally considered the western boundary

Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River in Cook County. It is bounded by the river on the south, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan on the north and east, according to most sources, although the City of Chicago only recognizes a small portion of this region as Streeterville. Thus, it can be described as the Magnificent Mile plus all land east of it. The majority of the land in this neighborhood is reclaimed sandbar.

The neighborhood contains a combination of hotels, restaurants, professional office centers, residential high rises, universities, medical facilities, and cultural venues. The area has undergone increased development in the early 21st century as numerous empty lots in Streeterville have been converted into commercial and residential properties, especially in the southern part of the neighborhood. The neighborhood had earlier experienced booms following World War I and World War II.

History

Houseboat of Mrs. George Wellington Streeter docked on Lake Michigan (1922)

The original maps of the city of Chicago show that Lake Michigan once came ashore near what is now Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River. In 1834, a 1,500-foot (457.2 m) pier was built where the mouth of the river once was. Silt and sand accumulated north of this pier, creating usable land that was later nicknamed "The Sands". Squatters and a vice district encroached on the district, causing angst among the property owners. In 1857, Chicago Mayor John Wentworth evicted these trespassers from the land.

In the late 1880s, George Streeter began his efforts to steal shoreline land from its rightful owners. He persisted in these efforts for decades, lying, stealing, forging and killing in his scheming. He claimed that his boat hit a sandbar just off the Chicago shoreline during a storm and that he and his wife had made the stranded boat their new home. Meanwhile, landfill dumped in an effort to create land on which to build Lake Shore Drive by the Lincoln Park Board created 186 acres (0.75 km²)s of new land along the lake front, which Streeter attempted to claim. Streeter clearly lied about his discovery of the "District of Lake Michigan". A storm did not smash Streeter's ship into a sandbar on the night of July 10, 1886. Weather reports for that night make no mention of a storm. Streeter did not really believe that he could fill in the shoreline and legally claim the new land; a witness in Streeter's 1902 land fraud trial testified that Streeter had purposely set out to contest the claims of the wealthy shoreline owners. Contractor Hank Brusser told the court that Streeter asked him to fill in portions of the shoreline in order to create confusion over land titles. According to Brusser, Streeter said that: "They (the owners of the shoreline) will have to buy us off" and that "We'll get a million out of it".

The local press became enamored with the story of Streeter's brash personality and his self-proclaimed district. Mayor William Hale Thompson tried to evict the Streeters for selling liquor, and after several eviction attempts and gun battles, Streeter landed in jail. In 1918, the courts invalidated his claim of sovereignty. Today, the district is home to some of the most expensive real estate in Chicago.

The John Hancock Center and the Chicago Water Tower are two notable Streeterville buildings.

The 1920 opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which was part of the efforts to enact the Burnham Plan of 1909, as well as the economic boom of the 1920s, brought wealth to the eastern sector of the Near North Side and paved the way for a luxury shopping district on North Michigan Avenue. Investors built high-rise apartment buildings such as those in the East Lake Shore Drive Historic District, and elaborate hotels. The Bridge connected to a North Michigan avenue that served as a replacement for the former Pine Street which hosted warehouses and factory buildings near the river, and large mansions and rowhouses in northward sections in the neighborhoods of McCormickville and Streeterville. Magnificent Mile architecture during the economic boom of the 1920s emphasized historicist architectural styles such as Beaux-Arts classicism, Gothic revival, and vertical-style modernism. The buildings redefined the Chicago skyline with stylistic variation that gave new meaning to urban context and design compatibility.

A post-World War II construction surge occurred in the area, and in the 1950s the city pursued a plan of urban renewal. A local real estate developer named Arthur Rubloff led the revitalization of North Michigan Avenue under the banner of “The Magnificent Mile.” The success of this effort spurred the erection of more high-rise apartments and new investment in the Near North Side. This development led to the "canyonization" of Michigan Avenue, where the buildings on both sides of the street tower above, creating an urban "canyon".

Today

Chicago River is the south border (right) of the Near North Side and Streeterville and the north border (left) of Chicago Loop, Lakeshore East and Illinois Center (from Lake Shore Drive's Link Bridge with Trump International Hotel and Tower at jog in the river in the center)

Although there is general agreement that Streeterville is bounded on the west by the Magnificent Mile, some, including the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, claim the boundary extends to one block further to the west to Rush Street. One map by the Chicago Mayor's office differs on both the northern and eastern boundary, showing a boundary that includes only the southwestern (formerly, industrial) portion of this region bounded on the north by Grand Avenue and on the east by Lake Shore Drive as being included in Streeterville with the rest of the claimed region designated as part of the Gold Coast. A website dedicated to George Wellington "Cap" Streeter contradicts the city and agrees with other sources extending the northern boundary to Lake Michigan. One city guide not only uses Grand Street as the border, but also extends the district west several blocks. Although the Encyclopedia of Chicago does not explicitly lay out the boundaries of this region, it mentions buildings such as the John Hancock Tower and Water Tower Place, even though the land around the water tower and pumping station existed long before Captain Streeter made his claims. This article considers the black boundaries in the lead map above to be the guiding boundaries. Streeterville includes some of Chicago's tallest skyscrapers, such as the John Hancock Tower, and upscale stores, hotels, and restaurants.

Although its main campus is in Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University has its Chicago campus here. Northwestern Memorial Hospital and its Feinberg School of Medicine is located in Streeterville. The Prentice Women's Hospital opened in October 2007, and construction started on the new campus of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in April 2008. The Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies and part of its Kellogg School of Management are nearby. The Northwestern University School of Law is at Chicago Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, adjacent to Lake Shore Park and Lake Michigan. Next to the Park is the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. The downtown campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has a Chicago River setting to the south. The east side of the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue is part of Streeterville, as are Navy Pier, the most visited attraction in Chicago, and the John Hancock Observatory, the eighth-most visited attraction in Chicago.

The area east of Michigan Avenue and north of the Chicago River had a split personality for much of the 20th century - the northern portion upscale residential, retail, and university uses and the area near the Chicago River and Navy Pier dedicated to shipping and factories. At the end of the 1960s, however, residential complexes such as Lake Point Tower(1965) and McClurg Court Center (1971) began to appear among the warehouses and by the end of the century, residential and retail dominated the entire area. The neighborhood now has a reputation as part of an upscale residential strip that balances the more industrial western portion of the Near North Side. In 2007, construction started on what would have been Chicago's tallest skyscraper, the Chicago Spire. It was to be located in the southeastern corner of the neighborhood, next to Lake Shore Drive. The Chicago Spire was originally supposed to be completed in 2010, but was later cancelled.

In the early 21st century, much of the southern part of the neighborhood that had previously contained warehouses and empty lots has undergone development, including the River East Center east of Columbus Drive. The River East Art Center serves as the primary retail hub apart from the Magnificent Mile. South Streeterville currently has numerous skyscrapers that are either proposed or already under construction such as Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and Residence Tower, InterContinental Chicago, 560 North Fairbanks, 600 Lake Shore Drive, Streeter Place and 630 North McClurg Court, which complement the River East Center, and NBC Tower.

Streeterville Historic Districts

East Lake Shore Drive Historic District

Old Chicago Water Tower District

Michigan–Wacker Historic District

Streeterville hosts several landmarks and places that have been designated as historic districts. The East Lake Shore Drive Historic District, which consists of a row of early 20th century luxury apartments, sits on the northern edge of the district opposite Lake Michigan. The Old Chicago Water Tower District is located along Michigan Avenue where Streeterville meets the border of the River North and Gold Coast (Chicago) neighborhoods at Chicago Avenue. The Water Tower District contains the only public buildings that survived the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. Also, part of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District lies within Streeterville at the southern end of the Magnificent Mile and contains numerous high rises and skyscrapers built in the 1920s.

The neighborhood hosts several individual landmarks. The neighborhood hosts a National Historic Landmark, the Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite, the home of the first settler in Chicago. Properties in the neighborhood listed in the National Register of Historic Places include 257 East Delaware, the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments, the Drake Hotel, the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, the Navy Pier and the Palmolive Building. Other Chicago Landmarks in the neighborhood include Allerton Hotel, Farwell Building, McGraw-Hill Building, Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton Office and Studio, Tribune Tower, and the Woman's Athletic Club. Notable buildings in the district include the skyscrapers on the Magnificent Mile:

The Magnificent Mile has Chicago Landmarks such as the Allerton Hotel and shopping such as the world's only Garmin retail location.

John Hancock Center (1,127 feet (344 m))

900 North Michigan (871 feet (265 m))

Water Tower Place (859 feet (262 m))

Park Tower (844 feet (257 m))

Olympia Centre (725 feet (221 m))

One Magnificent Mile (673 feet (205 m))

Chicago Place (608 feet (185 m))

Palmolive Building (565 feet (172 m)).

Non-Michigan Avenue skyscrapers in the neighborhood include the following:

Lake Point Tower (645 feet (197 m))

North Pier Apartments (581 feet (177 m))

Onterie Center (570 feet (170 m))

Elysées Condominiums (529 feet (161 m))

401 East Ontario (515 feet (157 m))

The Streeter (514 feet (157 m))

400 East Ohio Street (505 feet (154 m)).

Some of the notable buildings in the district that have not been designated are Wrigley Building and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Streeterville portion of Lake Shore Drive

from south during Bike The Drive

from south

Gold Coast from Lake Shore Drive

The neighborhood hosts more than 25 hotels, including the Ritz Carlton, one of three five star hotels in the Midwestern United States, and the historic Drake Hotel. The Peninsula Hotel, another of the three five star hotels in the Midwestern United States, and the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, the other of the Midwestern five star hotels are located in the neighborhood near Rush Street. These two hotels host the highest rated spas in Illinois.

Economy

Qatar Airways operates an office in Suite 1310 at the John Hancock Center.

Playboy Enterprises' offices are on the 15th and 16th floors of 680 N. Lake Shore Drive.

Several consulates are in Streeterville. Countries with consulates include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Lithuania, and Switzerland.

Transportation

Streeterville is accessible via Lake Shore Drive with multiple direct exits in both directions. In addition, the Chicago 'L' has a stops at Chicago and Grand stations on the Red Line, which runs along State Street immediately to the west of the neighborhood. From the Kennedy Expressway the Ohio Street exit feeds into Streeterville. Numerous Chicago Transit Authority bus routes run within the neighborhood, notably along Michigan Avenue, Grand Avenue, and Chicago Avenue. During warm-weather months, water taxis and sightseeing boats ply the Chicago River along the south edge of the neighborhood and Navy Pier handles similar Lake Michigan water traffic.

See also

• Centennial Fountain
• List of tallest buildings in Chicago

External links

• Streeterville Chamber of Commerce
• Streeterville Organization of Active Residents
• City of Chicago Near North Side Community Map
• George Wellington "Cap" Streeter website
• Living in Streeterville