All of Chicago has a vested interest in the economic health of North Michigan Avenue, the city’s premier street where the residents and tourists have shopped, worked, dined and lodged since the 1940s.
It’s no secret the Magnificent Mile isn’t quite what it used to be. The pandemic, store vacancies and — let’s be honest — crime have robbed the street of some of its luster.
But all is not lost. Spend some time on Michigan Avenue on a good sunny day or a crisp fall evening, and it’s clear the Boul Mich still has much to offer and the potential to be so much more.
That’s why it’s good that Urban Land Institute, the Chicago Department of Planning and others have been rethinking Michigan Avenue recently.
The latest entry — the results and renderings hit the street last week — comes from the Chicago office of Gensler, the world’s largest architecture firm.
Parkside Realty, led by longtime Chicago real estate players Bob Wislow and Camille Julmy, hired the architects for the task.
The plan’s highlights include turning Jane Byrne Park, where the historic Water Tower sits, into a real destination, creating a better pedestrian experience by widening Michigan Avenue sidewalks, while narrowing the roadway.
The architects also proposed creating an arts, culture and food-themed public park at the north end of Michigan Avenue, complete with a footbridge that would carry pedestrians over Lake Shore Drive and onto Oak Street Beach.
“Since the pandemic, there are 6 million fewer visitors a year on the Mag Mile, which is a pretty staggering figure,” Gensler Design Principal Benjy Ward said.
“And along with that, with 30% of the space in the Mag Mile vacant right now … there are 2,000 fewer jobs on the Mag Mile than there were in 2019,” Ward said. “And when you do the math, a lot of that generates fewer tax returns for the city of Chicago.”
So making the street more attractive to businesses and visitors could help the city’s financial bottom line.
And what’s the future for all that vacant space in the Michigan Avenue corridor? Ward thinks the boulevard could learn a thing or two from the city’s current effort to convert vacant historic buildings along downtown’s La Salle Street into residences and other uses.
“Is there a way that we can start to convert some of this to hospitality space to more restaurants?” Ward said.
Ward wouldn’t say how much it would cost to remake Michigan Avenue. Of course, it would take millions, much of it no doubt having to come from public sources — which is the rub.
The city is putting out more than $160 million in subsidies to help along the La Salle Street conversions.
Meanwhile, the city has to also think about the future of State Street, which will require another big financial lift.
Ward said the Michigan Avenue project could be done in phases, a kind of pay-as-you-go approach until it’s done.
And if the plan is considered in some way by city and Michigan Avenue merchants, design improvements and commercial enhancements must be developed together and work hand in hand.
Otherwise, the city could wind up with the modern day version of the old State Street Mall, which created expensive new spaces that were out of sync with economic realities and changing shopping patterns on the Great Street.
And the city ended up ripping it all up, for the better, after only 17 years.
Still, big plans such as rethinking North Michigan Avenue are the kind of things the city must do — and find a way to fund — if Chicago is to reclaim or maintain its vibrancy.
The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.
Send letters to letters@suntimes.com
More about the Sun-Times Editorial Board at chicago.suntimes.com/about/editorial-board