An Art Moderne factory turned liquor store feels like an especially Chicago version of adaptive reuse. Built in 1941 and designed by Frederick Stanton, the Kohl & Madden ink plant escaped the urban renewal that scoured this part of South Loop in the 1950s–presumably saved by its relative newness. Kohl & Madden plopped a floor on top in the mid-1960s, but the company–swallowed up by a Japanese conglomerate–left in the late 1970s, and the building housed a secretarial services and printing firm until Binny’s bought it in 2007. The local chain pushed the envelope converting the old ink factory into a massive liquor store, spending more than $12m to turn it into their then-largest location, envisioning a ‘Toys “R” Us for adults’.
