Apple’s new Chicago retail store, currently under construction in the city’s North Michigan Avenue shopping district carries a $62 million price tag. The Chicago Tribune reports a construction permit issued by the city on Friday puts the price of the project at $62 million, not including the $375 permit fee. (And, various bribes and such to city officials and inspectors. It’s the Chicago way.)
The 20,000-square-foot store is going up, or more precisely, down, behind a temporary black wall lining the southern border of Pioneer Court at 401 N. Michigan Ave. Plans call for a high-profile but virtually transparent plaza-level entrance leading to the below-ground store overlooking the riverwalk.
The new store will feature a wide-open design, featuring an amazing amount of glass. Construction on the new location is already well underway. While work on the site has been going on for quite some time, Friday’s construction permit gives Apple the final go-ahead to complete the project.
When completed, the 20,000 square foot Apple Store will act as an anchor to the entire North Michigan Avenue shopping area. The new store will boast a free-standing, glass-walled entry pavilion, two grand staircases, and an elevator leading down to a sales floor on the riverwalk level.
The store will likely be one of Apple’s most expensive U.S. retail store construction projects ever. While not confirmed, the new store is said to have been designed by award-winning architect Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, the same firm that designed Apple’s new Campus 2 headquarters, now nearing completion in Cupertino, California.
No completion date has been announced for the project.
