Chicago The Gold Coast
The Gold Coast
is the name of a very wealthy part of Chicago and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 30, 1978. The Gold Coast Historic District in Chicago was the name of the second wealthiest neighbourhood in the United States. Only Manhattan's Upper East Side is more affluent. The Gold Coast consists mostly of high-rise apartment buildings on Lake Shore Drive, facing Lake Michigan, but also includes low-rise residential blocks inland. The Gold Coast is Chicago's wealthiest neighbourhood, along with the northern part of Streeterville. The zone extends along the lakefront from Oak Street to North Avenue, reaching inland approximately to Dearborn Parkway. The housing is a mixture of 19th century brownstones and concrete high-rises, mostly from around the 1960s. At North Avenue the neighbourhood overlooks Lincoln Park. As with many neighbourhoods, its exact borders are subject to dispute, but generally extend south to Oak and west to LaSalle, excluding the Carl Sandburg Village housing development between LaSalle, Dearborn, Division, and North (located in Old Town and built as a buffer to encroaching blight in the 1960s). The Gold Coast was an unexceptional neighbourhood until 1885, when Potter Palmer, former dry goods merchant and owner of the Palmer House hotel, built a fanciful castle on Lake Shore Drive. Over the next few decades, Chicago's elite gradually migrated from Prairie Avenue to their new homes north of the Loop.
Gold Coast is zoned to the following schools: Chicago Public Schools, Ogden School, O.A. Thorp Scholastic Academy (a magnet school) and Lincoln Park High School.
The Drake Hotel
is one of the important buildings in the Gold Coast History District. The Brothers John and Tracy Drake built the Drake Hotel in 1920. The architectural firm was Marshall and Fox. From the very beginning, the Drake brothers set out to create a structure that would inspire awe and emulation. Billed as one of the nation’s first urban resorts, The Drake gained in fame throughout the 1920s. The Drake was home to the famous "Amos and Andy" radio show, and to numerous big band performances of the time. In 1924, HRH the Prince of Wales (later known as the Duke of Windsor) was a guest of The Drake, establishing The Drake's 84-year tradition of serving as the Chicago home to the British royal family. Future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also a guest of The Drake during the 1920s, as were such notables as exiled Grand Duke Alexander or Russia and Queen Marie of Romania. You can see this building in front and in the back the John Hancock Center.
John Hancock Center
is a 100-story, multi-use building, recognized around the world for its distinctive architecture, prestigious location and presence on Chicago's skyline. For these reasons, the building is sought after by both large and small office tenants. The floors 1-5 are commercial, 6-12 is for parking, the floors from 13-41 are offices, 44-92 are apartment and on the floors over 93 are television, observatory, restaurant, mechanical. The building is owned by W2007 Golub JHC Realty, LLC with on-site management by Golub Realty Services, LLC and the company's wholly-owned property services affiliate. Designed by renowned architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, John Hancock Center has won numerous awards for its innovative and iconic style, including the Distinguished Architects 25-Year Award from the American Institute of Architects. The building's distinctive exterior cross-bracing eliminates the need for support beams, greatly increasing the amount of usable floor space.
