For 28 years, it was La Strada, at Michigan and Randolph, an upscale, below-grade restaurant with its own outside (stopped) clock. Then, in 2007, it closed to make way for a tiny-footprint, 40-story apartment tower that never came to pass.
It took another 15 years for La Strada to finally get ground into dust . . .
...but this time it was for a 74-foot-tall, 15,000 square-foot black box from the Lamar Johnson Collaborative that seemed to have taken its design cues from the now long-closed Verizon Death Star about a mile up the street.
Completed in 2023 at what you'd think was a prime location across from the Wrigley Peristyle and Millennium Park...
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| Michigan and Randolph, 2023 |
... it also stood empty and raw, a massive, unfinished interior for which I had a particular fondness - I'd loved to have seen it kept in perpetuity as a pop-home for flower markets, art faires, and UFC cage matches.
The owners, alas, having sunk untold millions into building the thing, had other ambitions. It was marketing as a restaurant space, but I noticed in April that the bottomless pit had grown a floor at street level. I went to the internet to find out what was going on - nada, but the space started filling up with various retail-looking furnishings.
Then, about a week ago, the smoking gun appeared. A sales counter with an unmistakable logo: ByeBye Chicago. Yes! We're getting a souvenir superstore! Des Plaines-based Chipman Design Architecture describes their inspiration:
We're excited to share a sneak peak of our latest project for Chicago's newest retail souvenir destination, Bye Bye Brands.
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| Image courtesy Chipman Design Architecture |
Inspired by the L trains that connect Chicago's neighborhoods, the design reflects how the city moves, carrying people from every corner into the center where tourism, culture, and city life converge. Ground in Chicago's industrial roots, the space layers bricks, bold graphics, and iconic Chicago language into a vibrant tribute to the city.
ByeBye already has several, much small locations up and down Michigan Avenue, and I don't know if the massive (5,000+ square-foot) outlet will replace any of them, but on Wednesday, I caught employees busily stocking merchandise and putting on the finishig touches. I still haven't seen an opening date - or any outside signage - but it's got to be soon.
No comment yet from the street vendors who have traditionally set up their own souvenir carts on Michigan just outside the building.
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| Michigan and Randolph, 1871 |
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| Michigan and Randolph, 1959 |
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| La Strada's stopped clock |
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| 151 North Michigan under construction |
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| ...some months later |
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| Another look at the great space lost |
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| The Chicago Cultural Center reflected in the large windows of 151 North Michigan |
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| Bye Bye Chicago store, 320 North Michigan |
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| Construction plans for Bye Bye Chicago superstore |
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| The aforementioned Verizon Store Death Star, long closed, but still a plague on its corner across from Water Tower Place |
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