The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in North America and contains the headquarters and regional offices of several global and national businesses, retail establishments, restaurants, hotels, and theaters, as well as many of Chicago's most famous attractions. It is home to Chicago's City Hall, the seat of Cook County, and numerous offices of other levels of government and consulates of foreign nations. The intersection of State Street and Madison Street, located in the area, is the origin of the address system of Chicago's street grid. Most of Grant Park's 319 acres (1.29 km2) are in the eastern section of the community area. The Loop community area is bounded on the north and west by the Chicago River, on the east by Lake Michigan, and on the south by Roosevelt Road.
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicago's Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. The district is located within downtown, and one block east of Rush Street. The Magnificent Mile serves as the main thoroughfare between Chicago's Loop business district and its Gold Coast. It is generally the western boundary of the Streeterville neighborhood, to its east and River North to the west.
The Brooks Building is a high-rise building in Chicago's commercial core, the Loop. It was built 1909–1910, in the Chicago School architectural style. An early example steel-framed high-rise building, the structure was commissioned by Peter Brooks and Shepard Brooks and designed by architects Holabird & Roche. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on January 14, 1997. It was also determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on October 8, 1982; however, it is not formally included in the NRHP due to the wishes of the property's owner.
LaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Robert de La Salle, a 17th century French explorer of the Illinois Country. The portion that runs through the Chicago Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district.
The Monadnock Building is a 16-story skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop area of Chicago. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built starting in 1891. The tallest load-bearing brick building ever constructed, it employed the first portal system of wind bracing in the United States. Its decorative staircases represent the first structural use of aluminum in building construction. The later south half, constructed in 1893, was designed by Holabird & Roche and is similar in color and profile to the original, but the design is more traditionally ornate. When completed, it was the largest office building in the world. The success of the building was the catalyst for an important new business center at the southern end of the Loop.
The Reliance Building is a skyscraper located at 1 W. Washington Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The first floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B. Atwood in 1895. It is the first skyscraper to have large plate glass windows make up the majority of its surface area, foreshadowing a design feature that would become dominant in the 20th century.
The Sullivan Center, formerly known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building or Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Store, is a commercial building at 1 South State Street at the corner of East Madison Street in Chicago, Illinois. Louis Sullivan designed it for the retail firm Schlesinger & Mayer in 1899 and later expanded it before H.G. Selfridge & Co. purchased the structure in 1904. That firm occupied the structure for only a matter of weeks before it sold the building to Otto Young, who then leased it to Carson Pirie Scott for $7,000 per month, which occupied the building for more than a century until 2006. Subsequent additions were completed by Daniel Burnham in 1906 and Holabird & Root in 1961.
There are more than 350 places listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in Chicago, Illinois, including 83 historic districts that may include numerous historic buildings, structures, objects and sites. This total is documented in the tables referenced below. Tables of these listings may be found in the following articles:
The Arc at Old Colony is a 17-story landmark building in the Chicago Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by the architectural firm Holabird & Roche in 1893–94, it stands at approximately 215 feet and was the tallest building in Chicago at the time it was built. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on July 7, 1978. It was the first tall building to use a system of internal portal arches as a means of bracing the structure against high winds.
The Printing House Row District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing four architecturally important buildings on South Dearborn Street, between Jackson Boulevard and Ida B. Wells Drive, in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as South Dearborn Street – Printing House Row Historic District and listed as a National Historic Landmark as South Dearborn Street – Printing House Row North Historic District on January 7, 1976. The district includes the Monadnock Building, the Manhattan Building, the Fisher Building, and the Old Colony Building.
The Prairie Avenue District is a historic district in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. It includes the 1800 and 1900 blocks of South Prairie Avenue and the 1800 block of South Indiana, and 211-217 East Cullerton. It was the site of the Battle of Fort Dearborn and became the city's most fashionable residential district after the Great Chicago Fire. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on December 27, 1979. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1972. The John J. Glessner House, designed and built by Henry Hobson Richardson in 1885–1886 at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, has been restored as a historic house museum, and is open for public tours. In 2006, the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance, a non-profit organization was formed to provide representation for thousands of South Loop residents, including the Prairie Avenue District, Central Station, Museum Park, Motor Row, and the South Michigan Avenue Corridor, as well as other areas of the Near South Side.
The Historic Michigan Boulevard District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States encompassing Michigan Avenue between 11th or Roosevelt Road, depending on the source, and Randolph Streets and named after the nearby Lake Michigan. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 27, 2002. The district includes numerous significant buildings on Michigan Avenue facing Grant Park. In addition, this section of Michigan Avenue includes the point recognized as the end of U.S. Route 66. This district is one of the world's best known one-sided streets rivalling Fifth Avenue in New York City and Edinburgh's Princes Street. It lies immediately south of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District and east of the Loop Retail Historic District.
333 North Michigan is a skyscraper in the art deco style located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Architecturally, it is noted for its dramatic upper-level setbacks that were inspired by the 1923 skyscraper zoning laws. Geographically, it is known as one of the four 1920s flanks of the Michigan Avenue Bridge that are contributing properties to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, which is a U.S. Registered Historic District.
The Virgin Hotels Chicago is a historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, that has been converted from use as an office building to use as a hotel run via a mobile app-based business model. The 250-room hotel is the first of Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels brand boutique hotels geared toward the female business traveller.
The Jewelers Row District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Running along Wabash Avenue, primarily between East Washington Street and East Monroe Street, the buildings in the district were built between 1872 and 1941 and were designed by many architects, including Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, John Mills Van Osdel, Adler & Sullivan, Alfred Alschuler, D. H. Burnham & Co., and Holabird & Roche in a variety of styles, including Italianate, Chicago School, and Art Deco. The buildings are variously loft buildings used for small manufacturers, mercantile buildings, office buildings and early skyscrapers.
Loop Retail Historic District is a shopping district within the Chicago Loop community area in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is bounded by Lake Street to the north, Ida B. Wells Drive to the south, State Street to the west and Wabash Avenue to the east. The district has the highest density of National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places and Chicago Landmark designated buildings in Chicago. It hosts several historic buildings including former department store flagship locations Marshall Field and Company Building, and the Sullivan Center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 27, 1998. It includes 74 contributing buildings and structures, including 13 separately listed Registered Historic Places, and 22 non-contributing buildings. Other significant buildings in the district include the Joffrey Tower, Chicago Theatre, Palmer House, and Page Brothers Building. It also hosts DePaul University's College of Commerce, which includes the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and the Robert Morris College.
11 South LaSalle Street Building or Eleven South LaSalle Street Building is a Chicago Landmark building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and that is located at 11 South LaSalle Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. This address is located on the southeast corner of LaSalle and Madison Street in Cook County, Illinois, across the Madison Street from the One North LaSalle Building. The building sits on a site of a former Roanoke building that once served as a National Weather Service Weather Forecast official climate site and replaced Major Block 1 after the Great Chicago Fire. The current building has incorporated the frontage of other buildings east of the original site of Major Block 1.
Washington Block is a Chicago Landmark building located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Designed by Frederick and Edward Baumann, it was built between 1873 and 1874 in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on January 14, 1997. When completed, Washington Block was one of the tallest buildings in the city of Chicago and is described as a rare example of the "isolated pier foundation" which contributed to the foundation of knowledge that has made Chicago the birthplace of the skyscraper. The building has limestone facades and originally included an exterior staircase that led to a second-floor corner entrance. The lobby has a curving hardwood staircase. Today the first floor is occupied by a 7-Eleven and the second floor occupied by Carter Legal Group PC. The building, which is located at the corner of North Wells Street and West Washington Street is five stories tall.
Printers Row, also known as Printing House Row, is a neighborhood located in the south of the Chicago downtown area known as the Loop. The heart of Printers Row is generally defined by Ida B. Wells Drive on the north, Polk Street on the south, Plymouth Court on the east, and the Chicago River on the west. This neighborhood overlaps significantly with the officially designated landmark Printing House Row District to the north of Ida B Wells Drive and the South Loop Printing House District to the south of the Drive. The neighborhood includes Dearborn Station, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
151 North Franklin is a skyscraper located at 151 North Franklin Avenue in the Chicago Loop. Completed in 2018 and standing at 568 feet tall with 35 floors at the northeast corner of West Randolph Street and North Franklin Avenue, the building is the current corporate headquarters of namesake tenant CNA Insurance, which has been headquartered in the Loop since 1900. It also hosts large office spaces for Facebook and the law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson.
