14-Feb-21 – A developer has reduced the height of a building proposed for a site on Rush Street last used by a Gold Coast nightclub.

The latest design from LFI Development of 1045-1047 North Rush Street is now 100 feet in height. The five-story building, clad in stone and brick, would include luxury retail space, a multi-level restaurant, and on the top floor, a duplex residential unit.

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly says he rejected an earlier 180-foot-tall proposal because “the design and massing was not contextual for the neighborhood.” He says he challenged the owner to reduce the height and design “with greater sensitivity to its neighbors on the block.”

Although the proposal does not require approval by the Chicago City Council, Reilly says LFI must obtain Lakefront Protection Application approval from the Chicago Plan Commission “to ensure that the building does not impede access to the Chicago Lakefront or inflict harm on the natural lakefront environment.”

The site was once the location of a nightclub, Proof. Reilly says the current owner, after forcing out the nightclub, “has been working for over a decade to return this parcel back as a contributing structure to the neighborhood.”