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The battle to save the 19th century building at Clark and Illinois most recently home to North Bank was over before it began, as was the abortive attempt by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to create a
River North landmark district, which, like Bertrand Goldberg's endangered Prentice Hospital, appeared as an agenda item, and then was dropped before the meeting and never seen again.
So, the North Bank building bit the dust last October to make way for a
600+ room three hotel complex - a Hyatt Place, Fairfield Inn and Starwood Aloft - taking up the L-shaped half-block bounded by Clark, Grand and Illinois. It's all a little early, so a lot of the current effort is just in holding up the retaining walls while excavation and foundation work take place.
Eventually, the North Bank corner will look like this . . .
and the whole thing like this . . .
And if you're less than thrilled about the quality, you obviously haven't seen what's going up just a block to the south . . .
