The Target store on State Street in Chicago is located at 1 South State Street, on the corner of State and Madison. It is also referred to as the City Target and is located in the historic Sullivan Center building. The building is named after architect Louis Sullivan who designed it. The building formerly housed the Carson Pirie Scott and Company department store.
It was built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger and Mayer. Additions were also made to the building by Daniel Burnham in 1906 and Holabird & Root in 1961. It was sold to H.G. Selfridge and Company in 1904. Selfridge only occupied the building for a few weeks and then sold it to Otto Young who leased the space to Carson Pirie Scott for $7,000 per month. Carson Pirie Scott & Company occupied the building for greater than a century until 2007 when it was sold and then leased to Target which opened in 2012.
The building is one of the classic structures of the Chicago School of Architecture. It is a steel framed structure 12 stories high. A 40 foot water tower was placed on the roof to be used by the building’s sprinkler system in case of fire. That was a lesson learned from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Carson’s closed and left the building in February 2007. The new Target store opened on July 26, 2012. Target leases two floors of the building. Target has met with favorable reviews for the modern design of the interior while preserving the character of this historical building. Other building occupants include the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Gensler Architecture. The Sullivan Building has been a Chicago Landmark since 1975 and is part of the Loop Retail Historic District.
Very interesting. I never thought of the Sullivan Building as a landmark building. I just thought of it as Carson’s, a place where I spent hours wandering the floors looking for bargains. It was and is a lovely building. I have fond memories of the furniture department on the 8th floor.
Yes. I just recently learned it was an historical building designed by Louis Sullivan. I loved it as Carson’s and now love it as Target too LOL!