City Council approves rezoning for 151 N. Michigan

The Chicago City Council has approved the rezoning for a new low-rise structure at 151 N. Michigan. Planned for a small site overlooking Millennium Park, the parcel sits at the intersection of W. Randolph St and N. Michigan Ave. Conceived by BJB Partners, the new building will replace an existing vacant space that used to house the former La Strada restaurant. 

With a design from Lamar Johnson Collaborative, the project will consist of a 3-story building that will be constructed as an addition to Millennium Park Plaza directly adjacent to the north of this site. Totaling 15,000 square feet, the new addition will hold approximately 5,300 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The second and third levels will be offered to restaurant or commercial tenants, with that main entrance coming from N. Beaubien Ct on the east side of the building. The existing two levels of basement parking will remain under this plan.

With this design, the second level will be accessed through a connection into the existing tower as its entrance, which will require a 5,500-square foot renovation at the base of the existing building. As proposed, the third floor will offer 1,000 square feet of outdoor space on a terrace that overlooks N. Michigan Ave. Above the third floor, the roof is planned to support a future occupied roof deck that may serve as an amenity deck for the existing residential units in the adjacent tower.

The proposed ground floor retail/commercial space entrances are located along N. Michigan Avenue.  There will be no entries along E. Randolph St. The second and third level of restaurant/commercial space will have its entrance along N. Beaubien St. in order to have the least impact on traffic. 

With City Council approval, the site will be rezoned from its current Planned Development to DX-16. Now, the project development team will seek an administrative adjustment, to be reviewed by the Department of Planning and Development, in order to permit the proposed addition. A construction timeline is not currently available.