“A 140-year-old Streeterville mansion is about to get bejeweled.
“Chicago-based online jewelry business Local Eclectic is set to open its first brick-and-mortar location early next year in the six-bedroom house with historic landmark status. Local Eclectic owner Alexis Nido-Russo bought the space for $3.3 million in June.
“The online business, founded in 2013, carries emerging and independent jewelry brands as well as its own products designed and manufactured in-house. The company currently operates out of an office in the West Loop but will move administrative operations, including its 17 full-time employees, to the multi-level Streeterville store.
“With the move, Local Eclectic is expanding beyond its rocks and gems business. The company will open a cafe in the same space to compliment the jewelry business.
“‘It’s really going to be unlike any other shopping or retail experience in Chicago,’ Nido-Russo said. Guests can come for a hybrid shopping-sipping experience or simply order a coffee and continue with their days. The cafe will offer pastries, charcuterie boards and wine, she said.
“Architecture firm Bond Design will oversee the building’s retrofit, but Nido-Russo said much of the space will remain as-is because of its historical status. ‘It’s actually a landmark building, so the facade we can’t change,’ she said. ‘It’s always going to look a little bit like a house.’
“The 13,000-square-foot house was built in 1885 following the Great Chicago Fire and originally designed by Chicago-based firm Burling & Whitehouse. The land was once owned by the estate of William B. Ogden, Chicago’s first mayor, and in its early days briefly housed portrait artist George Peter Alexander Healy, according to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
“The property at 212 E. Ontario St. is one of 15 Near North Side residential buildings making up an official Chicago Landmark District around the Streeterville neighborhood. (Grieve, Crain’s Chicago Business, 8/16/24)