North Face Downsizing to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile

The North Face is trading vertical space for prime frontage on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

The outdoor apparel brand signed a lease for a ground-floor location at 605 North Michigan Avenue, taking over about 5,000 square feet in a four-story office-and-retail building, CoStar reported. The move represents a sharp downsize from its two-level, 16,000-square-foot store inside the former John Hancock Center, now known as 875 North Michigan.

Landlord North American Real Estate, which acquired the property last year for $47 million, said North Face is expected to open its new location by late fall. The lease charges a slow but notable rebound on the famed shopping corridor after weathering historic retail vacancy over the past several years.

The store will occupy the lower portion of a two-level space formerly leased to gift shop Colores Mexicanos. That retailer’s lease was not renewed due to below-market terms, said Savas Er, principal of North American Real Estate. The 6,000-square-foot second-floor separate from the North Face deal could be absorbed into a new two-level lease if the building’s Chase bank tenant vacates in the coming years. Other tenants in the building include Sephora and the architecture firm KTGY.

North American Real Estate, based in Chicago, also recently bought the retail portion of the Tribune Tower in a separate high-profile deal. The firm is betting on a wave of tenant activity on the 600 block of North Michigan Avenue, which sits at the mile-long corridor’s heart.

North Face is owned by Denver-based VF Corporation, which also owns Vans, Timberland, JanSport and Dickies. The company did not comment on the relocation.

Despite retail contractions elsewhere, recent additions to North Michigan Avenue include a Harry Potter-themed store, a Mango’s flagship and Magnicity’s expansion of 360 Chicago into former Signature Room space.

— Judah Duke