Midwest

CHICAGO — Parkside Realty’s Bob Wislow and Camille Julmy partnered with a team of architects and strategists at Gensler Chicago to study the innovations and interventions that could help elevate North Michigan Avenue. According to Gensler, the COVID pandemic led to North Michigan Avenue receiving 6.5 million fewer visits per year; a 74 percent increase in crime; 25 to 35 percent decrease in property tax value; massive losses of sales, hotel and entertainment taxes; and over 2,000 jobs lost. North Michigan Avenue hasn’t undergone a major transformation since the 1990s. The team identified the end of North Michigan Avenue, between Chicago Avenue and Oak Street Beach, as the area with the greatest potential to elevate the famed street’s experience. The high street’s southern edge features the Michigan Avenue Bridge, Chicago River Tours, Chicago Architecture Center, Apple Store, Wrigley Building and the recently renovated Tribune Tower, creating an anchor for the street. On the northern end, the foreclosure of Water Tower Place, potential sale of the Drake Hotel, repositioning of the John Hancock Center and a now-empty 830 N. Michigan Avenue have presented an opportunity to create an equally prominent northern anchor, according to Gensler.