Chicago's Union Bus Depot - Reborn

CHICAGO, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cubellis, a national architectural, interior design, and engineering firm with offices in Chicago, has contributed the base building architectural design to the successful renovation of the Trailways bus depot building at the corner of Wabash and Roosevelt in Chicago's South Loop.

The architectural work is a key part of the successful restoration and rebirth of the local noteworthy building at 50 E. Roosevelt for adaptive retail store re-use. Opened in 1928 as the country's first $1 million bus terminal, Chicago's Union Bus Depot was the city's first central terminal for bus travelers, and offered convenient downtown access for the passengers of the major long-distance bus lines that served the city. At its height of operation, the station and its spacious waiting room were shared by over 25 individual bus lines, including major carriers such as Greyhound and Trailways.

In order to create a suitable environment for new retail tenants, Cubellis and property developer Friedman Properties, Ltd. created a scheme to match the interior functionality of the building to the exterior facade. To renovate the property, the Friedman/Cubellis project team went through a painstaking process to determine what pieces of the facade could be salvaged and what pieces had to be re-fabricated based on the surviving architectural details.

"When Friedman Properties purchased the property, the facade was literally falling off the building," said Jason A. Friedman, Executive Vice President of Friedman Properties. "In order to save the terra cotta, the City of Chicago had pinned the facade to the building piece by piece. Fortunately, throughout the design process, we had a wonderful partnership with Dick Mann and his team of architects at Cubellis. They were there to help us every step of the way."

Sam's Wine & Spirits First Retailer in New Space

The first retailer to capitalize on the re-born space, Sam's Wines & Spirits, has opened its fourth retail location in the building with one of the largest retail wine and spirit inventories in the country. The approximately 19,000 square foot store includes a fine wine room with rare and allocated wines, and also features a 55-seat wine bar, a Dom Perignon champagne bar, a gourmet market featuring a broad selection of artisan cheeses, and a proposed rooftop party space overlooking Soldier Field and the John G. Shedd Aquarium.

"We were very excited to work with Friedman Properties on this project," said Dick Mann, Cubellis Principal, Architecture. "They really understood what needed to be done, and the end result was an excellent example of true, efficient, adaptive re-use. We maintained the architectural elements that are significant and give the building its unique identity, while providing for modern-day tenants in this gentrified South Loop neighborhood."

Building Has Long History

The building was designed by Chicago architect David Saul Klafter, who began his career as an office boy for noted architect Louis H. Sullivan, and later worked for two other well-known architectural firms, D.H. Burnham & Company (1907-08) and the offices of Jarvis Hunt (1909-1911). Starting his own practice in 1911, Klafter was responsible for many substantial commercial and residential buildings erected throughout the Chicago area. Immediately adjacent to the corner on Roosevelt Road, Klafter's name can still be seen inscribed in the terra cotta facade.

The Trailways building has historical interest as a principal place-of-entry to Chicago for many rural southern African-Americans who came to Chicago as part of the "second" migration of the 1930s and 1940s. A significant portion of today's African-American community in Chicago can claim family who first arrived in Chicago at the Wabash & Roosevelt depot via bus. In popular vernacular of the time, it was sometimes referred to as taking "The Dog." The bus also figures prominently in the musical genre of the blues, since many of the Mississippi Delta musicians used it for their travels. There are many Blues songs such as "Bus Station Blues," "Greyhound Blues," "So Sad to Be Lonesome," and "Me and the Devil Blues" which mention traveling by bus.

After the completion of the new Greyhound Terminal at Clark and Randolph in March 1953, the old depot was then used as union headquarters and meeting rooms, and later adapted for commercial use. It was vacant for many years prior to its current redevelopment.

About Friedman Properties

Friedman Properties, Ltd. is one of Chicago's most respected real estate companies and a nationally recognized leader for its pioneering practice of civic-minded development and preservation. With a portfolio of more than 50 properties throughout the Chicago area, the company owns and manages more than 4 million square feet of space including many of the city's most recognizable landmark buildings. The centerpiece of the company's holdings, River North's thriving Courthouse District, is among the largest privately owned collections of historic buildings in the country. Today, Friedman Properties is expanding its development work to new areas of the city, creating exciting partnership opportunities for businesses that share the company's commitment to excellence. Friedman Properties invites you to join the company in its mission to preserve the landmarks of the past and build the communities of tomorrow.

About Sam's Wines & Spirits

Sam's Wines is the country's largest independent wine retailer based on annual gross sales volume, with four stores in the Chicago area which stock more than 8,000 wines, 2,500 spirits and 1,200 beers, as well as a popular online store at http://www.samswine.com. Founded in 1946, the company has been honored as Retailer of the Year by both Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator magazines, has earned several Best of the Web awards from Forbes, and was recently named the best wine store in Lincoln Park by Chicago magazine.

About Cubellis

Cubellis is an integrated, single-source design firm offering architectural, interior design, and engineering services to a diverse base of national and international clients. The firm's practice area expertise includes retail, mixed-use, hospitality, workplace solutions, residential, academic/education, and government/municipal. Cubellis employs over 350 professionals, with offices in Boston and Weymouth, Massachusetts; Rocky Hill, Connecticut; Englewood Cliffs and Freehold, New Jersey; Philadelphia and Wayne, Pennsylvania; Vienna, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Ft. Lauderdale and Naples, Florida; and Dubai, U.A.E. For more information, please visit: http://www.cubellis.com.