Chicago's worst eyesores: Vacant buildings hide in plain sight

The big picture: Chicago has a long-standing problem with abandoned buildings. These eyesores can be found citywide, in areas neglected by developers and wealthy neighborhoods alike.

• With the help of Axios Chicago readers, we've already identified several offenders and today, we added 10 more vacant spots to the list.

Ditka's (Gold Coast)

Coach Ditka's namesake restaurant was super popular and not just because it was the original location of the "Superfans" sketch on "Saturday Night Live." The high-end sports bar and pork chop restaurant closed during the pandemic in 2020.

• The restaurant space sits empty, but the sign remains.

Treasure Island (Old Town)

Grocery store closures are always hard on neighborhoods, but they're even worse when the building isn't converted or razed. That's the case for the Treasure Island on Wells Street in Old Town.

• It closed and was sold to a developer in 2019.

Pick Me Up Cafe (Wrigleyville)

The Pick Me Up Cafe is thriving in Uptown, but its old building on Clark Street in Wrigleyville sits vacant. This coffee shop/diner was a late-night hang for young adults along the busy Clark Street stretch south of the ballpark.

• Pick Me Up left this spot in 2020 after 23 years.

Architectural Objects (Logan Square)

This building along Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square that once housed an architectural salvage shop has sat dormant for years, even while the neighborhood gentrified and added several new restaurants and shops.

• There were rumors the building could become a new restaurant in 2024, but the one-story building still sits vandalized and dormant.

Victoria's Secret (Clybourn Corridor)

This monster building along North Avenue near Sheffield once housed a Gap, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Express and Victoria's Secret, just to name a few. Today, those stores are all gone, but the building remains.

• Some businesses are still in the building, namely a gym, but the front-facing North Avenue stores scream "retail is dead" from the rafters.

De Cero (West Loop)

De Cero was part of a second surge of hot restaurants on Randolph Street that revamped the popular dining area. It exited in 2018.

Since then, the popular stretch of restaurants and retail shops has exploded, but the De Cero building sits boarded up and empty.

• Its ugly exterior isn't as hidden anymore with the departure of the Little Goat Diner a few doors down.

Westlake Hospital (Melrose Park)

Is there anything more ugly than a shuttered hospital? Westlake Hospital sits dormant along Lake Avenue in Melrose Park. New owners took over the hospital in 2019 but it permanently closed in 2022.

• Some medical offices are still open on the campus.

Reza's (Andersonville)

Reza's vacant storefront is the epitome of this series.

Smack-dab in the middle of the bustling Clark Street section of Andersonville sits a shuttered space since 2022. Reza's had occupied that space for 40 years.

• Some medical offices are in the building, but the neighborhood will always know this building as Reza's.

Rose Angelis (Lincoln Park)

Rose Angelis is a long-gone favorite of many Chicago restaurant lovers. The little Italian restaurant closed in 2016 after 25 years in business.

• Other restaurants have come in since, but it now sits empty on Wrightwood along a mostly residential stretch of buildings.

The Bristol (Bucktown)

The Bristol rode the wave of restaurant openings in the 2010s and was a much-heralded spot in Bucktown near Webster & Damen. The restaurant closed in 2022 and the storefront has since sat vacant.

• The Bristol sign still waves in the wind.

More eyesores:

• Volume 1
• Volume 2