70 W Hubbard St

Real estate investor H.H. Magie built this stone-fronted store and office building in 1872. Designed by architects Bauer & Loebnitz, the elaborately detailed sandstone facades and well-appointed interiors made the Magie Building comparable to the Loop’s finest buildings. In 1875, Magie gave part ownership to his sonin-law Lambert Tree, who is well-known in Chicago history for erecting the landmark Tree Studios on State Street between Ohio and Ontario, another Friedman property. The interior includes a large two-story hall originally intended for large public gatherings. At the turn of the century the hall was the distribution headquarters of Essanay Studios, a moviemaking firm whose performers included Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery, and Charlie Chaplin. In the 1920s, the building’s retail storefront at 66 W Hubbard was the location of the legendary “Noose Coffee Shop” a popular hangout of newspaper reporters, attorneys, and other habitués of the Criminal Courts Building next door. Restaurant owner Joe Stein was for many years responsible for preparing the “last meals” of criminals scheduled for hanging in the alley between the courthouse and the adjacent County Jail Today the building is home to office and retail tenants.