View source for Water Tower Place

{{Short description|Development in Chicago, Illinois}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2014}}
{{infobox shopping mall
| name = Water Tower Place
| image = 20120929 Water Tower Place.JPG
| caption = Water Tower Place (its mall on the left and skyscraper on the right) with [[Chicago Avenue Pumping Station]] in the foreground and [[John Hancock Center]] in the background
| image_width = 
| location = 835 Michigan Ave., [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| address = 
| opening_date = {{Start date and age|1976}}
| developer = Philip Morris Klutznick
| manager = 
| owner = MetLife Investment Management 
| architect = [[Edward D. Dart]]
| number_of_stores = 104<ref name=mall/>
| number_of_anchors = 0
| floor_area = {{convert|729000|sqft|m2|1}}<ref name=mall>{{cite web |url=https://www.brookfieldpropertiesretail.com/properties/property-details/water-tower-place.html |title=Water Tower Place |publisher=[[Brookfield Properties Retail Group]]}}</ref>
| floors = 74 in skyscraper, 7 in mall, 3 in [[American Girl]], 8 in former [[Macy's]]
| website = 
| publictransit = '''[[Chicago "L"]]''': <br /> {{rail color box|system=CTA|line=Red}} at [[Chicago (CTA Red Line station)|Chicago]]
| parking = 
}}
[[Image:Water Tower Place 060527.jpg|thumbnail|right|Water Tower Place skyscraper]]
[[Image:Water tower place.jpg|thumb|The Water Tower Place shopping mall at the base of the skyscraper, with [[Chicago Avenue Pumping Station]] in foreground]]
'''Water Tower Place''' is an urban [[mixed-use development]] comprising a {{convert|758000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} [[shopping mall]] in a 74-story [[skyscraper]] in [[Chicago]], Illinois. The mall is located on North Michigan Avenue, along the [[Magnificent Mile]]. It is named after the nearby historic [[Chicago Water Tower]], which survived the [[Great Chicago Fire]].

In 2022, Brookfield Property Partners turned the building over to their lender, [[MetLife|MetLife Investment Management]], due to numerous retail vacancies following the closing of [[Macy's]], the impact of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], and increasing crime along the [[Michigan Avenue (Chicago)|Michigan Avenue]].<ref name=givesup>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-06 |title=Water Tower Place owner gives up the property |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2022/4/5/23012475/water-tower-place-owner-gives-up-the-property |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}</ref>

==Shopping center==
[[Image:WaterTowerPlaceMall.JPG|thumbnail|right|The mall in the Water Tower Place has eight levels of shops.]]
When the mall opened, its anchor stores were [[Marshall Field's]] and [[Lord & Taylor]]. Marshall Field's was converted to [[Macy's]] in 2006.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-water-tower-place-magnificent-mile-macys-20210108-eacv3zsm4ffcljs5vk2pvolyma-story.html |title=The Magnificent Mile is 'not invincible.' Water Tower Place faces its biggest challenge since the North Michigan Avenue mall opened |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=January 8, 2021 }}</ref> Lord & Taylor closed in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jan/17/on-chicagos-magnificent-mile-stores-struggle-amid/ |title=On Chicago's Magnificent Mile, stores struggle amid pandemic &#124; Arkansas Democrat Gazette |date=January 17, 2021 }}</ref> Macy's closed in 2021.<ref name="auto"/>

In October 2023, it was reported that the top five floors of the shopping mall were for sale, for conversion to office space. [[MetLife]] plans to downsize the mall to only the first three floors of the podium structure.<ref name="auto1"/>
Remaining stores include Akira, [[American Girl]], [[Bath & Body Works|Bath and Body Works]], [[Chico's (retail chain)|Chico's]], [[Eileen Fisher]], [[Express, Inc.|Express]], [[Finish Line, Inc.]], [[Forever 21]], [[Hollister Co.]], [[J. Jill]], [[Lacoste]], [[Lego]], [[Sunglass Hut]] and [[White House Black Market]].

==History==
Originally planned in the late 1960s by the Mafco Company (the former shopping center development division of [[Marshall Field & Co.]]), the skyscraper was eventually built in 1975 by Urban Retail Properties, a company led by [[Philip Morris Klutznick]] and his son [[Thomas J. Klutznick]]. The project received a J.C. Nichols Prize from the [[Urban Land Institute]] in 1986. Modernist architect [[Edward D. Dart]], of [[Loebl Schlossman & Hackl|Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart]], was the chief architect.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Edward D. Dart (1922-1975) Collection, 1841-1993 (bulk 1940-1993) |journal=Ryerson and Burnham Archives, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries the Art Institute of Chicago |date=December 1999 |url=http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/findingaids/id/13452/rec/13 |access-date=July 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232312/http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/findingaids/id/13452/rec/13 |archive-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref>

The tower section is a 78-story, 859-foot (262 m) reinforced concrete slab, faced with gray marble, and is the twelfth tallest building in Chicago and the twenty-sixth tallest in the United States. When built, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. It contains a [[Ritz-Carlton]] hotel, [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]]s and office space, and sits atop a block-long base containing an atrium-style retail mall that fronts on the [[Magnificent Mile]].<ref>{{Cite news |last= |author=The Editorial Board |date=2025-07-02 |title=Editorial: Water Tower Place and the death of the vertical mall |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/02/editorial-water-tower-place-vertical-mall-michigan-avenue/ |access-date= |work=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>

Water Tower Place's opening changed the economic dynamics of the Magnificent Mile by bringing middle-class shops to what had been a street dominated by luxury retailers, tony hotels, and expensive apartments. It shifted downtown Chicago's retail center of gravity north from State Street to North Michigan Avenue.

Richard A. Meyers Realty, Inc. and Urban Investment and Development took an entire floor in the Blair Building, 645 N. Michigan Avenue, and built several full-scale condominium units, several blocks away from the site. This combined marketing approach produced sales of over 100 units before the building was ready for occupancy, a pace that surpassed units ready for occupancy in competing buildings during the same period.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

In 2001, a program of refurbishments was begun, including enclosing the exterior arcade along Michigan and adding a loading dock in the middle of the block for additional retail space. Also included were updates to the escalators and fountains leading into the mall from North Michigan Avenue lobby, as well as enhancements to the sidewalk areas, the mall's exterior facades, and department store entrances. Some of the changes included the addition of exterior glass walls and display areas for the department stores, some small specialty retail space in the renovated lobby area, and large exterior rounded, corner glass bay windows and lighted "fins" on the North Michigan Avenue and side street exterior walls of the mall. These last additions broke up the boxy nature of the original architecture and added some dimension and scale to the monolithic marble walls. The interior fountain between the escalators leading from the North Michigan Avenue lobby were also updated with a tiered "pop jet" fountain with cascading waterfalls and balls of water, controlled by computer-based choreography.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

[[The Rouse Company]] acquired the center in 2002 during the breakup of the then Dutch-owned [[Urban Shopping Centers]]. In 2008, a 3-story [[American Girl]] Store replaced [[Lord & Taylor]], which closed in spring of 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Sandra |last=Jones |title=Lord & Taylor to leave city |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-10-05-0610050114-story.html |access-date=2021-03-08 |work=chicagotribune.com |date=October 5, 2006 |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Oprah Winfrey]] acquired four condominium units in the building. The condos were sold in 2015 and 2016 for slightly more than what she paid.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/elitestreet/ct-oprah-winfrey-condo-elite-street-1121-biz-20151120-story.html |title=Oprah Winfrey sells Water Tower condo for $4.6 million |first=Bob |last=Goldsborough |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=November 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/elitestreet/ct-elite-street-oprah-winfrey-north-michigan-avenue-1204-biz-20161201-story.html |title=Former Oprah Winfrey unit in Water Tower Place is rehabbed, sold for $3.6 million |first=Bob |last=Goldsborough |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=December 1, 2016}}</ref>

On August 14, 2020, [[WGN-TV]] announced [[Macy's]] would be leaving, although they declined to give a comment. Then in September 2020, Macy's reopened their store and all operations will continue. On January 5, 2021, it was announced that Macy's would be closing as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide. The store officially closed its doors on March 21, 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2021/1/5/22215598/macys-closing-water-tower-place-retail-department-store |title=Macy's confirms its closure at Water Tower Place |first=David |last=Roeder |date=January 5, 2021 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=April 5, 2021}}</ref> This was a part of the early 2021 downsizing by Macy's Inc.

In 2022, Brookfield Property Partners turned the building over to their lender, [[MetLife|MetLife Investment Management]], due to numerous retail vacancies following the closing of [[Macy's]], the impact of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], and increasing crime along the [[Magnificent Mile]].<ref name=givesup/>

In October 2023, it was reported that the top five floors of the shopping mall were for sale, for conversion to office space. MetLife plans to downsize the mall, which suffers from significant vacancies, to only the first three floors of the podium structure.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.costar.com/article/1772538569/top-five-floors-of-water-tower-place-mall-in-chicago-go-up-for-sale-in-conversion |title=Top Five Floors of Water Tower Place Mall in Chicago Go Up for Sale in Conversion |work=Costar}}</ref>

==The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago==
The '''Ritz-Carlton Chicago''' is a 435-room hotel at Water Tower Place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/chicago |title=Ritz-Carlton Chicago |work=[[Ritz-Carlton]]5}}</ref>

The builders of Water Tower Place acquired the rights to use the [[Ritz-Carlton]] name and logo when they opened a hotel in the tower in 1975. This was before the modern Ritz-Carlton chain was established in the mid-1980s, using the same name and logo, which have been around since the early 20th century, in use at various hotels. Also under terms of the agreement, no other hotel was permitted to use the Ritz-Carlton name in the Chicago area while the agreement was still in effect, meaning that the modern Ritz-Carlton chain was never able to operate a hotel in Chicago, only a nearby condominium, which they built in 2012.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

So that their hotel would be part of a chain, the owners of Water Tower Place contracted [[Four Seasons Hotels]] to manage the hotel in 1977. It was not part of the global Ritz-Carlton chain, despite its name and use of the lion logo. In 1985 the number of guest rooms was reduced to 435.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

On August 1, 2015, The Ritz Carlton Chicago ceased being a [[Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts|Four Seasons]] property and converted management and operation to [[Sage Hospitality]] of [[Denver]], operated as a full member of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC, and participating in and marketed with the rest of The Ritz-Carlton properties.<ref>[http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article84871.html Ritz-Carlton Chicago Finally a Full Participant In The Ritz-Carlton Hotel System] August 3, 2015</ref>

In 2018, [[U.S. News & World Report]] ranked the hotel as the sixth-best hotel in Illinois.
The ''U.S. News'' Best Hotels rankings in 2024 did not include the hotel as among the best 100 in the nation.<ref name="Ben">{{cite news |url= https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2025/02/10/chicago-hotels-us-news-rankings-2025.html |last1=Miller |first1=Ben |title=Chicago hotels slip in latest US News & World Report rankings |work=Chicago Business Journal |date=February 10, 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[900 North Michigan]]
*[[Block 37]]
*[[The Shops at North Bridge]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Dart, Susan (1993).Edward Dart Architect.{{ISBN|1-879260-09-3}}.

==External links==
{{commons category|Water Tower Place}}
*[http://www.shopwatertower.com/ Water Tower Place]

{{coord|41|53|52.5|N|87|37|20.5|W|type:landmark|display=title}}

{{Chicago skyline}}
{{Chicago skyscrapers}}
{{Chicagomalls}}
{{Shopping malls in Illinois}}
{{Brookfield Properties Retail Group}}
{{Hotels in Chicago}}

[[Category:Residential buildings completed in 1976]]
[[Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago]]
[[Category:Residential condominiums in Chicago]]
[[Category:Residential skyscrapers in Chicago]]
[[Category:Condo hotels in the United States]]
[[Category:Brookfield Properties]]
[[Category:Shopping malls in Chicago]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Chicago]]
[[Category:Edward D. Dart structures]]
[[Category:The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company]]
[[Category:Skyscraper hotels in Chicago]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Streeterville, Chicago]]