Hiffman Shaffer Anderson Inc. (now known as NAI Hiffman) proposed leasing the top ten stories of the office building to Marriott Corporation as an economy hotel for its Fairfield Inn chain. They wanted to demolish the unused skating rink and the vacant theater building, replacing them with one-story glass retail buildings, each covering about 8,500 square feet. Similar glass atrium entrances would be built on State and Dearborn Streets.

(Left) A retail addition on the State Street side of Marina City, proposed in 1990 by Hiffman Shaffer Anderson Inc. Tucked under a level of the parking ramp would have been a new building where Smith & Wollensky is located today. At left, new steps would provide quick access to the plaza.

A replacement of the theater building, imagined from Dearborn Street, proposed by Hiffman Shaffer Anderson Inc. in 1990.

Metal screens would be installed at the base of both parking ramps. Along the south edge of the property, next to the river, a landscaped walkway would be the first to conform to proposed city guidelines for riverfront development. At the base of the west tower there would be a new restaurant.

A proposed replacement of the skating rink includes a new retail building at right and a much more public plaza in front of it.

Ilene F. Goldstein, the court-appointed trustee, described this in 2011 as “a lower frills hotel,” rare in downtown Chicago at the time, which would “get the benefit of being a high frills hotel...because there were restaurants there in the retail space.”

The Hiffman Shaffer Anderson offer was for $30 million, according to Goldstein.

Although they had no control over the proposal, condominium unit owners at Marina City got a preview during the second week of June. The Chicago Tribune described residents as generally supportive of the plans, although concerned they would be asked to pay for construction of the new entrances.

Said Mary Swain, a seven-year resident, “It certainly would improve property values. Marina City has a worldwide reputation, and its image is deteriorated. It needs to come back.”

Developers applied to the Chicago Plan Commission to allow a hotel to replace the office building. They planned to take over the property from the bankruptcy court by the end of 1990 and have most of the construction completed within a year.

Daniel G. Anderson, president of Hiffman Shaffer Anderson, told the Chicago Tribune in July 1990, “The idea is to take what has become in recent years a rather drab and uninviting retail and office development within the complex and convert it into an exciting facility that will draw more people to the city’s downtown riverfront.” (Right) 1990 group photo of Hiffman Shaffer Anderson Inc. (Left to right) William Skrezlowski, Daniel Anderson, Grace Wilkie, Dennis Hiffman, and Mark Muneretto.

Architect opposes changes

In 1990, Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg was 77 years old and fighting the proposed changes – especially the part about tearing down his beloved theater building. Paraphrased by Chicago Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp, Goldberg said it made no “esthetic, functional, or urbanistic sense.”

Gapp lamented, “Disgracefully poor maintenance has left the plaza and the base elements of Marina City’s structures in grimy, crumbling condition for nearly a decade.”

Goldberg produced a 33-page document that challenged the redevelopment plans for a number of reasons, including “poor siting, ugly design, intrusion on open space, obscured sightlines, a clumsy traffic plan, ventilation problems, inappropriate landscaping, and dubious economic planning.” About the only thing acceptable to Goldberg was the conversion of the office building into a hotel. (Left) Photo of Bertrand Goldberg autographed by the architect on January 22, 1984.

On Friday, September 21, 1990, the Chicago Plan Commission approved the proposal to build a two-story retail building near the east tower over space then occupied by the skating rink, converting the upper floors of the office building into a hotel, but keeping the theater building. The commission ordered the developer to design the new additions to fit Goldberg’s original plan.

The following Monday, the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee approved the plan by a 4-1 vote. The full council would vote on it on October 3.

5th Ward Alderman Lawrence Bloom cast the lone dissenting vote. He said the new retail space would “turn a much-photographed landmark into another shopping mall.”

However, again with little public comment, the purchase of the commercial property at Marina City by Hiffman Shaffer Anderson did not happen. Daniel Anderson would later blame Bertrand Goldberg for the deal’s collapse – specifically, his objection to tearing down the theater building, which Anderson claimed hampered rezoning that was needed for the project.