At the corner of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue sits 333 N Michigan Avenue, Wirtz Realty’s commercial high rise building. Below are some highlights from the building’s rich history.
- Built in 1928, the Art Deco building was designed by Holabird & Root. Holabird & Root also designed Soldier Field, Palmer House, Palmolive Building and Wrigley Field’s 1937 hand-turned scoreboard and center field bleachers.
- 333 N Michigan Avenue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service and designated a registered Chicago Landmark by the City of Chicago.
- The initial cost of land and building was $9,000,000.
- The unique shape of 333 N Michigan Ave is often noted. It is sixty feet wide by 200 feet long.
- Near the top of 333 N Michigan Avenue are sentinel-like figures sculpted in stone that stare down at passers-by. There is also intricate metalwork that depict the Roman god Neptune.
- The original Tavern Club counted Frank Lloyd Wright, Mayor Richard J. Daley, Carl Sandburg, and William Wrigley as members.
- The original Tavern Club included an ice-skating rink on the 26th floor terrace.
- The building’s recent multi-million dollar renovation brough The Tavern Club at 333, a new social space and event space on the fourth floor of 333 N Michigan Avenue.
Learn more about 333 N Michigan at www.333michigan.com. Chicagology also has some great historical information, photographs and newspaper articles on 333 N Michigan at https://chicagology.com/skyscrapers/skyscrapers062/. You can find out more about The Tavern Club at 333, including information on space rental for events, at www.tavernclub333.com.
