14-Aug-17 – Since 1998, without a doubt, and arguably since 1963, when Bertrand Goldberg moved his architecture firm into what is now Hotel Chicago, there has always been commercial space available at Marina City. That 19-year or arguably 54-year streak ended in April when IVme, a “wellness and performance” clinic providing intravenous relief from a variety of ailments, opened in the last sizable commercial space.

“We’re virtually fully leased here, save for a few smaller vacancies in our concourse level,” reports Joaquin Manriquez (left), an associate with Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate company that since at least 2014 has marketed Marina City’s commercial property to prospective renters.

“The biggest news at Marina City lately has been the grand opening of Katana,” says Manriquez. “Katana contributes to the ongoing narrative of Marina City’s retail [which is] primarily dining-and-entertainment-driven.”

(Right) Looking toward Katana’s sushi bar and upper level from main dining area.

Katana started serving Japanese barbecue on August 3 in 12,730 square feet of space on the west side of Hotel Chicago that was a BIN 36 restaurant until December 20, 2014. The new restaurant can seat 299 people inside and 30 people on an outdoor patio overlooking Dearborn Street. The patio was built for Katana by LaSalle Hotel Properties, the real estate investment trust that owns Hotel Chicago and most of the commercial property at Marina City.

(Left) Main dining area of BIN 36 on February 17, 2010.

Innovative Dining Group, based in Los Angeles, announced the new location on September 14, 2015, saying Chicago was selected over sites considered in New York and Miami. Working with Tag Front Architects of Los Angeles, Chicago’s LG Construction + Development Group transformed a wine bar into a robata and sushi bar in just under one year.

Yolk serves breakfast to hotel guests and neighborhood

(Above) Main dining area of Yolk, looking east to west.

On the State Street side of Hotel Chicago, breakfast specialist Yolk has been open since February 18 in a 3,781 square foot space. LaSalle built a patio for them, too, along with a direct entrance from the hotel lobby. It took Terracon Construction of Oak Brook about eight months to demolish a Chase branch and build Yolk’s sixth Chicago location. All Yolks are designed by GEA Architects, also of Oak Brook.

LaSalle says during a year-and-a-half search for a new tenant, they were always hoping for a place that would serve breakfast to guests of its 354-room hotel in Chicago, and be a smaller restaurant to complement Katana.

(Above) Southeast corner of Hotel Chicago at Marina City when it was a Chase branch (left) and restaurant (right).

Yolk founder/CEO Taki Kastanis says he picked Marina City because it is close to not just Hotel Chicago but other hotels in the area.

“Most of the Yolks in downtown Chicago do really well with...hotel business,” said Kastanis (right). “We...have about 10-12 hotels that are walking distance and we do really well with that kind of business, especially summertime and holiday season. If you take the hotel business and the density of office and residential, it’s the best of all worlds.”

IVme takes last spot

On April 20, IVme started offering relief by IV drip for hangovers, travel fatigue, dehydration, stress, allergies, migraines, and minor illnesses. Bulley & Andrews of Chicago built the “performance and wellness” clinic – designed by Scot Ferguson of Antunovich Associates – into a slender space between SPiN Chicago and Tortoise Supper Club.

“We absolutely love our location,” said IVme founder Dr. Jack Dybis (left), a licensed physician and trauma surgeon. “I honestly think we could not have picked a better spot. [Marina City] is obviously an iconic Chicago landmark, and...Hotel Chicago has been a gracious host to our new venture.”

Treatments generally take 30 to 45 minutes and are received while lying on a chaise lounge or sofa. Saline mixed with the selected additive is administered by a registered nurse from an IV drip to an injection point. Side effects, minor and short-lived, according to IVme’s website, can include soreness, bruising, and bleeding.

An Open House at IVme, 346 North State Street, on Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., will be catered by their next-door neighbor, SPiN Chicago. (Right) One of four treatment rooms at IVme.

(Above) When a Crunch fitness center moved out of Marina City in 2008, this space on the east side of Hotel Chicago was this empty for four years. In 2012, Tortoise Supper Club took over about half of the area. Space at the far end around the fence and stairs became the upper level of SPiN in 2016. That left a slender space in-between, just beyond the column at far right, in which IVme was built in 2017.

In addition to Hotel Chicago, LaSalle Hotel Properties leases commercial space in a 300,000 square foot structure above the marina and on the plaza level of Marina City’s west tower. Smith & Wollensky leases approximately 21,543 square feet of space in its building in the southeast corner of Marina City. The four-story, 100,000 square foot House of Blues, on the west side of the complex, is owned by Live Nation.