South Loop Motor Row undergoes renaissance of residential, retail  

By Jennifer Geiger 

Once America’s most bustling hub of automotive retail and repair shops, the South Loop’s neglected Motor Row district is on the upswing thanks to a rejuvenation plan that includes condominiums, a hotel, retail stores, and a restaurant.

Motor Row spans from Indiana to Wabash Avenues and from 22nd Street to 24th Place. Its storied history goes back more than a century, when it sprawled across several more city blocks and was home to dealerships showcasing the luxury of the automobile in an urban landscape.

            In 1905, Henry Ford built his first automotive dealership outside Detroit, MI, at 1444 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. A boom in car dealerships and service stations followed, and between 1905 and 1920 more than 100 such businesses sprang up in Motor Row, designed by renowned architects such as C.W. and George L. Rapp and Philip Maher.

Hard times struck the area in the 1940s and 1950s, when expressway projects began and demolished buildings to make way for highways. Those structures still standing now belong to the Motor Row historic district, an area designated a City of Chicago landmark in 2000.

            Today, many of Motor Row’s buildings sit vacant disrepair. Developers hope to capitalize on the neighborhood’s history and century-ago glamour to bring this South Loop area back to life.

            One of the first new condo developments, Lofts on the Row at 2332 S. Michigan Ave., is a former four-story showroom; Graceland Development Company is transforming it into 22 one- and two-bedroom units ranging from about 1,000 square feet to more than 1,900 square feet. The project broke ground last March and will be complete early this month. Prices range from the mid-$200,000s to more than $600,000.

            Graceland will break ground next month on Lofts on the Row II at 2340 S. Michigan Ave., a new six story building featuring 35 one- to three-bedroom units. Prices range from about $250,000 to $600,000, with 22 condos already sold.

            “This is the hottest area in the city—there’s a new development on every block,” said Lofts on the Row Sales Manager Patricia Feder. “It’s rapidly becoming an extension of downtown and will be a great place to live.” 

            Down the block at 2301-2315 S. Michigan Ave., a trio of historic, formerly rundown buildings is being reborn into Motor Row Lofts by architects Bauhs Dring Seglin Main. Once home to a dealership showroom and repair center, these landmark buildings will become 52 one- to three-bedroom loft condominiums costing between $234,000 and $659,000. The project includes an indoor parking garage and retail space on the first floor. Perhaps most attractive, these buildings are poised to join the National Register of Historic Places, which makes each condo owner eligible for an eight-year property tax assessment freeze.

            “These are unique loft homes—true timber lofts—not cookie-cutter condos like you see everywhere else,” said Kim McNeece, part of the Motor Row Lofts sales team. “There’s nothing like this in the area, especially with the unique tax freeze situation.”  

            Built between 1911 and 1915, the buildings once housed a Cadillac showroom and City Chevrolet auto sales and repair center. All three were designed by Holabird and Roche, architects of the Chicago Board of Trade, City Hall, and the original Soldier Field. The Motor Row Development Corp. is restoring the first building’s white glazed terra cotta façade and the other two structures’ multicolored terra cotta brickwork.

Around the corner, McNeece and Fedor confirmed, plans are in the works to renovate a vacant six-story building at 2300 S. Indiana Ave. into a hotel and Bennigan’s restaurant. The building’s original brick façade will be kept intact. The former City Chevrolet auto repair center would house more than 150 hotel rooms and 8,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The hotel and restaurant are expected to draw customers from the area’s new lofts and condos as well as convention center traffic from its across-the-street neighbor, the McCormick Place West expansion.

Nearby, at 2300 S. Michigan Ave., lies a vacant lot soon to be filled by MR Michigan Avenue, a seven-story, 94-unit building by Fitzgerald Associates Architects and developer Rokas International. Its one- and two-bedroom units range from 696 to 1,279 square feet and start at $260,000. Parking spots are $27,500 each, and the first floor will consist of retail space. This new building will mirror Motor Row Lofts across the street by dividing its front into three separate brick façades.

            “The automobile is such a vital part of American culture, and Motor Row is where many Chicagoans were introduced to it,” said Rokas International’s principal, Andrius Augunas. “The Motor Row Condominiums pay tribute to the cultural and architectural significance of the district while…offering modern conveniences.”   

            The City of Chicago has joined the Motor Row resurgence by installing antique-looking lampposts, hanging flower baskets, and adding more trashcans to the neighborhood. McNeece referred to this burgeoning area as an up-and-coming street like Armitage Avenue, complete with unique housing, architectural history, and shopping. With a little sales luck and some new retail, hotel, and restaurant neighbors, developers are betting this once overlooked neighborhood will go from 0 to 60 in a matter of months.