Michigan Avenue (Chicago)

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The Michigan Avenue Bridge across the Chicago River. The Chicago Sun-Times building, which was once visible in the background, has since been demolished to make way for the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Michigan Avenue is a north-south street in Chicago. At the north end it merges into Lake Shore Drive near the Drake Hotel. Through portions of the northern part of Michigan Avenue, it is a double decker road, including a two level bridge over the Chicago River. It extends south continuously to 63rd street, just north of a rail yard and parking lots. It continues south at 66th street to Marquette Road, where it breaks a half block to the east. It then continues south to 89th street. It is disjoined twice again before 91st street where it runs south to 127th. It begins again in the south suburb of Riverdale.

A portion of Michigan Avenue North of the Chicago River is referred to as the Magnificent Mile, or simply the Mag Mile. It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists and the affluent. The area also has a high concentration of the city's major media firms and advertising agencies, including the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

Magnificent Mile shopping

The major hotels are Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, The Peninsula, Intercontinental, Conrad Hilton, Westin, Shangri-La (2009), W Hotels, Mandarin Oriental (2009), Hard Rock Hotel, House of Blues, Sofitel, The Drake, and Trump International Hotel

It is the home of Chicago's famous Water Tower landmark, the postage-stamp sized Water Tower Park with its historic clock, as well as the eight-level Water Tower Place shopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. The shopping center is anchored by two department stores: Macy's North Michigan store and Lord and Taylor. North of the shopping center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building (also known as the Playboy Building) and the lavish Drake Hotel.

The Magnificent Mile is also the home of luxury hotels around the historic Chicago Water Tower Square. Across the historic Water Tower Square lies the Park Tower /Park Hyatt Hotel, one of the most successful luxury hotel/residential buildings in Chicago. The entire mile is noted for its spectacular Christmas displays.

Michigan Avenue Bridge, the beginning of the Mag Mile. [1]

At the northern edges of this district can be found the exclusive One Magnificent Mile building; East Lake Shore Drive, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area of real estate running east from North Michigan Ave. and facing directly onto to Lake Michigan; and the on-ramp to northbound Lake Shore Drive. Retailers include Gucci, Chanel, Bulgari, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Charles David, Van Cleef and Arpels, Tiffanys, Hugo Boss, La perla, Max Mara, Stuart Weitzman, Giorgio Armani, Bottega Venneta, Escada, Graff, Ghurka, Wolford, Cartier, Fratelli Rosseti, Paul Stuart, Tumi, Ralph Lauren, St. John, Dennis Basso, Zegna, Givency, Movado, Coach, Swarovski, Oilily, Eileen Fisher, Kenneth Cole, Levi's, Mont Blanc, George Jensen, Lalique, Cole Haan, J. Mendel and many anchor stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, Nordstrom, Macys, and Bloomingdales. Oak Street which is perpendicular to Michigan Avenue include luxury stores such as Prada, Barneys New York, Hermes, Tod's, Yves Saint Laurent, Kate Spade, Jil Sander, Loro Piana, Furla, Calypso, Judith Ripka, Frette, Marina Rinaldi, Luca Luca,Gianni Versace, Camper, A pea in the pod, AG Jeans, Diesel, Amerian Apparel, BCBG Maxazria, Bang and Olufsen and Chicago's own Ultimo. There are also numerous high-end salons on Oak Street. Unlike nearby Michigan Avenue and Water Tower Place which feature upscale chain stores and large department stores, Oak Street is known for its exquisite boutiques. A few boutiques are so exclusive that they will only open doors for select patrons or prefer prior appointments.

Cultural institutions in this area include Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and, formerly, the Terra Museum of American Art (which closed on October 31, 2004).

The CTA Red Line's Chicago and Grand stations are useful for reaching the Magnificent Mile.