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Wells Street (Chicago)

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Wells Street (Chicago)
Wells Street (Chicago)

Wells Street is a major north–south street in Chicago. It is officially designated as 200 West, and is named in honor of William Wells, a United States Army Captain who died in the Battle of Fort Dearborn. Between 1870 and 1912, it was named 5th Avenue so as not to tarnish the name of Wells during a period when the street had a bad reputation.Wells Street is interrupted by Guaranteed Rate Field, Interstate 55, and Lincoln Park. Wells Street crosses the Chicago River at the Wells Street Bridge. Some downtown blocks of Wells Street are located beneath the Chicago 'L' train system. The first Crate & Barrel store, which opened in 1962, was located on Wells Street.Wells Street was named in Time Magazine's 1976 article "The Porno Plague".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Wells Street (Chicago) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Wells Street (Chicago)
South Wells Street, Chicago Loop

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.8815 ° E -87.633805555556 °
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Address

Wells & Monroe

South Wells Street
60696 Chicago, Loop
Illinois, United States
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Wells Street (Chicago)
Wells Street (Chicago)
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Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle

The Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle was a proposed 125-floor skyscraper intended for Chicago, Illinois, United States, by Lee Miglin and J. Paul Beitler and designed by architect César Pelli. The site of the proposed Skyneedle now is host to a parking garage. If it had been built when it was planned, the 1,999 ft (609 m) tall Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle would have been the tallest building in the world.The tower's plans were unveiled in 1988. The plans would falter due to the post-Gulf War market downturn. Miglin-Beitler held hopes of reviving the project, but these were dashed by the murder of Lee Miglin.The tower would have risen 125 floors and 1,999 feet. It would have had 1.9 million square feet of space (with 1.2 million being office space). It was planned to cost $450 million to construct. As of July 1990, it was tentatively planned to open in 1993.The firm had believed that the observation deck planned atop the tower, as well as the twelve floors of parking at its lower levels, would produce large amounts of revenue. Plans also called for the building to include a two-story health club. Office space in the building would have been marketed to smaller yet prestigious firms. The goal was to attract law firms and other tenants desiring a high-status location, but needing only between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet of office space.There were a number of challenges facing the project before the post-Gulf War economic downturned ultimately doomed it. This included the earlier savings and loan crisis putting in place a stricter regulatory climate for banks and credit unions, which made many financial institutions wary of large real estate projects as investments. Another challenge was that the Chicago real estate market, particularly in its downtown, was "soft". The downtown had an office space vacancy of 14%, which was on the rise. Additionally, millions of additional square feet of office space was already under construction in downtown Chicago, with millions more to open up with Sears moving out of the Sears Tower for a new suburban headquarters. Another challenge that analysts predicted was that larger corporate tenants might avoid the building, as its narrow floorplates would require firms needing larger amounts of office space to locate their offices across several floors. This could prevent the building from attracting large "anchor" tenants.Across Wells Street from the site where the tower was to be built is another Pelli project previously developed by Miglin-Beitler, 181 West Madison Street, which reportedly inspired the general design of the Skyneedle. Visually the upper floors of the Skyneedle do appear to be similar to a stretched 181 W Madison. Across Madison Street from the site where the tower was to be built is 200 West Madison, another building developed previously by Miglin-Beitler.César Pelli also designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. The Petronas Towers have an obvious design reference, with the exception of having round floorplates as opposed to square ones.