Kesner Building, 5 N. Wabash Avenue Building
Life Span: 1911-TBD
Location: NE corner Wabash and Madison
Architect: Jenney, Mundie & Jensen
- Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Kesner Bldg.—5 N. Wabash av.
Chicago Tribune, January 20, 1910
LEASES STORE IN KESNER BUILDING
A. Starr Best, Children’s Outfitter, Also to Occupy Second Floor of Structure.
A lease of unusual interest in central business property was closed yesterday. It comprises the corner store and the entire second floor in the proposed new Kesner building at the northeast corner of Wabash avenue and Madison street, which was leased to A. Starr Best, children’s outfitter in the Columbus Memorial building, for a term of ten years from May 1, 1011, at an annual rental of $27,800.
The store is 37×82 feet and the entire space leased amounts to about 12,000 square feet. The lease was negotiated by Newton A. Lauren & Co.
The Kesner building will be seventeen stories high and is expected to be completed about Jan. 1, 1911. As indicated by the permit issued by the city building department last week, the structure will cost $850,000, but it is thought that when completed it will represent an investment of over $1,000,000.
Chicago Examiner, January 15, 1911
The picture shows the Kesner Building, at the northeast corner of Wabash avenue and Madison street, now practically finished. It is one of the must attractive of the new buildings, and, while the exterior is ornate, the interior is more elaborate, as it is finished in mahogany and marble. The building is all rented.
NOTES:
This building is not to be confused with the Municipal Courts Building, also known as the Lake View Building, is a skyscraper located at 116 S. Michigan Avenue. The building was built from 1906 to 1907 to serve as a temporary home for Chicago’s Municipal Court. Jacob L. Kesner built the building, which was originally 12 stories tall, on a strip of land only 40 feet wide; Kesner was one of the few property owners willing to grant the Municipal Court a short-term lease.
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