One Museum Park West Close To Foreclosure

According to today’s Crain’s Chicago Business Today, Bank of America is about to foreclose on One Museum Park West. Not good news for sure, but not surprising to anyone living in the South Loop. The tower was far from being filled and it’s not the only high-rise in the neighborhood struggling.

On the positive side, Chicago Business Today also reported that Illinois’s business environment is better than its neighbors. Not much comfort to those struggling, but I guess it’s always worse somewhere else.

Free Social Media Workshop for 2nd Ward Businesses

Blagica Bottigliero

A free social media workshop will be held on Thursday, April 28, 2011 for 2nd Ward business owners. The event, focusing on Twitter, will be held at Prairie Avenue Gallery, 1900 S. Prairie Ave. from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

This is the third in a series of free social media workshops hosted by Blagica Bottigliero. Bottigliero is an award-winning blogger and social media pioneer. She is the director of social media for Motorola Mobility. Bottigliero is a regular blogger for Crain’s Chicago Business.


The social media workshops are a joint venture between the Greater South Loop Association and the 2nd Ward Alderman's office. Bottigliero hopes to conduct similar workshops twice a month in different areas of the ward.

For more information on upcoming social media events, please visit the GSLA and The Daily Blagica Web sites. Or follow them on Twitter: @gr8southloop and @blagica.

McCormick Place Nabs 2 More Shows

Crain's is reporting that McCormick Place has booked two more trade shows. According to Crain's, the "Chicago-based Professional Convention Management Association will have its 2015 annual meeting at McCormick Place." The PCMA show will attack approximately 3,600 attendees and pump an estimated $6.3 million into the local economy, this according to the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.

 

 

In 2016, the American Society of Anesthesiologists will hold its annual convention at McCormick Place. The society won an auction package put together by the PCMA. The PCMA auctions off a convention package, once a year, that allows organizations to place bids on a meeting at a heavily discounted rate. The package won by the American Society of Anesthesiologists was available between 2011and 2018. The package included discounts of 20% off of hotel rates.

 

 

Once a year PCMA auctions off a convention package that allows organizations to bid on a meeting at a considerably discounted price. The Chicago package was available for a convention between 2011 and 2018 and included a 20% discount off the published room rates at hotels. The American Society of Anesthesiologists is already booked at McCormick for 2011 and expected to attact 17,000 attendees. The CCTB estimates they will spend $42 million while in Chicago.

McCormick Place has been aggresively trying to attrack more trade shows after losing the 2012 Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society show to Las Vegas. It was announced on January 10, 2011 that the Healthcare Management show is coming back to Chicago sometime in the future.

Smoke in Red Line Subway

The Chicago Transit Authority reported smoke in the Red Line subway this morning, sending firefighters to the scene, reports Crain's. According to the Chicago Tribune, smoke was reported between the Lake St. and Grand and State St. stations. A 9:35 a.m.posting by the CTA said trains were being rerouted to the elevated tracks between Fullerton and Cermack-Chinatown stations.

According the a posting to the CTA Web site, service on the "Red Line has resumed, but residual delays may occur. Service was disrupted due to Fire Department activity near Lake." The posting goes on to say allow for "extra travel time."

No injuries have been reported.

Trade Show Coming Back to McCormick Place

Trade Show Comes Back to Chicago
The Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society trade show will be coming back to McCormick Place in the future, according to today's Crain's magazine. Citing prohibitive costs, Healthcare Management scheduled their 2012 show in Las Vegas. In 2009, the city reported a $55 million boost to the local economy. Losing a large trade show (tens of thousands of visitors to Chicago) like Healthcare Management is a blow to the city, especially in tough economic times.

New Reforms Passed After Loss
After McCormick Place lost the trade show to Las Vegas, the Illinois legislature passed reforms to make the venue more competitive.

Mayor Daley and other city officials held a press conference this morning to announce the return of the Healthcare Management show.

What do you think? Is Chicago doing all it can to make it competitive with other cities?

Trader Joe's: The "Traditional Press" Catches up

What we can to look forward to when Trader Joe's comes to town

If you've been reading this blog or following folks on Twitter or Facebook, you know this is old news, but here it is from Crain's.

Trader Joe's plans new grocery store in South Loop Consumer Crain's Chicago Business

"Transformers 3" Takes Over Chicago: Was It Worth the Hassle?

Unless you were living under a rock, you knew a movie was being shot in Chicago last week. The Paramount Pictures production of Transformers 3 took over E. Wacker Drive forcing pedestrians and buses to find new ways to get around town.

Economic Boom or Just a Great Big Pain?
According to Crain's Chicago, the production created jobs and pumped some much-needed cash into the local economy. For more information on the benefits of filming movies in Chicago, check out the video below, which includes some great footage from movie set to release in July 2011.

Chicago dining

Chicago restaurants: something for every taste
Chicago is famous for its restaurants. And in the South Loop, we're lucky to have some great places to eat and entertain. This week's Crain's Chicago highlights some great local eateries, including Curry House, right here in our own backyard.

New and old restaurants featured
Some of the other restaurants highlighted include Mercadito, a Mexican restaurant in River North, muscling into Rick Bayless territory with surprisingly popular results. And of course, there are new takes on landmarks like the Berghoff.

For the complete list, click here.

Landmark hotel misses interest payments

The Hotel Burnham at 1 West Washington St. stopped making interest payments on a $36-million loan according to ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com. The downtown landmark joins several local hotels that are having trouble paying their bills.

This article and several others reporting on bad times for businesses in Chicago comes on the heels of an article in Crain's Chicago that said most Chicagoans believe the economic storm has passed.

What do you think? Let's us know by taking the poll at the top of this blog.

Sam's Wine Shop to close this Sunday

Another one bites the dust

According to the Chicago edition of Crain's, Sam's Wines & Spirits will be closing their South Loop store at Wabash and Roosevelt this weekend. The owners are blaming the "moribund" real estate market and the slow down of development in our once hot neighborhood.

"Incompetent snobs"

If you talk to folks in the South Loop you might hear another story. Many residence said Sam's wasn't an inviting place to shop. The staff was aloof and unfriendly according to several people we spoke with. Chicago Journal comumnist, Bonnie McGrath, went so far as to call the staff "incompetent snobs." McGrath's very entertaining and enlightening blog post is worth reading. It could be a primer on how to run a business into the ground.

It is a shame that the former bus station will be empty; it's a beautiful landmark-worthy structure that deserves decent tenants.