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Chicago
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Marina City
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Marina City

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Marina City
4
About
Unique architecture for a building complex as its own self-contained community.
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Near North Side
How to get there
  • State/Lake • 4 min walk
  • Clark/Lake • 5 min walk
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Best nearby
Restaurants
3,285 within 5 kms
Miss Ricky's
270
0.4 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • American • Vegetarian Friendly • Vegan Options
Bongiorno's Italian Deli and Pizzeria
376
0.2 km₹ • Italian • Pizza • Vegetarian Friendly
Roka Akor - Chicago
641
0.3 km₹₹₹₹ • Japanese • Sushi • Asian
Shaw's Crab House
3,336
0.2 km₹₹₹₹ • American • Seafood • Sushi
Three Dots and a Dash
603
0.3 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • Bar • Polynesian
Tortoise Supper Club
612
56 m₹₹₹₹ • American • Steakhouse • Bar
RPM Steak
947
0.2 km₹₹₹₹ • American • Steakhouse • Gluten Free Options
Eddie V's Prime Seafood
972
0.5 km₹₹₹₹ • American • Steakhouse • Seafood
Firecakes Donuts
454
0.2 km₹ • Bakeries • American
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
4,446
0.5 km₹₹₹₹ • American • Steakhouse • Seafood
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Attractions
580 within 10 kms
Chicago River
2,028
0.2 kmBodies of Water
The Gentlemen Statues
1
0.1 kmMonuments & Statues
The Art Of Banksy - Chicago
1
68 mArt Galleries
Medieval Torture Museum
590
0.3 kmSpeciality Museums
The Chicago Theatre
812
0.4 kmTheatres
Chicago Architecture Center
3,282
0.4 kmSpeciality Museums
Wrigley Building
312
0.4 kmPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Architectural Buildings
Goodman Theatre
438
0.4 kmTheatres
American Writers Museum
430
0.5 kmSpeciality Museums
Michigan Avenue Bridge
983
0.4 kmPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Bridges
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
162 reviews
Excellent
53
Very good
82
Average
23
Poor
3
Terrible
1
George K
10 contributions
Iconic and special.
Dec 2022 • Solo
Been here on the 39th floor for a year now. I LOVE IT. Although every person has there individual tastes and opinion I feel this location and building cannot be beat. Especially for the price. Nobody has balconies this size. They are huge. I'm facing the river and I can see Lake Michigan I can see all the way up and down the river in both directions. I can walk to the greatest theaters, restaurants, Riverwalk, lakefront and museums. It doesn't have some of the amenities newer buildings have. There is no pool. The workout room is a workout room, not an expansive gym. It has about 10 treadmills a set of free weights one bench and a few other pieces of equipment. There's rarely more than one person in there. That works for me. The elevators are fast. The employees are kind. I always feel proud as I walk up to the building. Not to mention House of Blues is in my basement lol. I'll let my pictures speak for themselves. Oh...the roof top is open, hosts movie nights weekly, often supplying beer and pizza. This is old school, real deal Chicago.
Written 1 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Grover R
Pensacola, FL18,030 contributions
Corncobs - Anther Chicago Architectural Icon
Jun 2022
Today, downtowns across the US are experiencing a Renaissance in large part due to what this historic property did, bring mixed-use residential to the city. Prior to the 1960's downtowns were office, public, finance, commercial retail and industrial property uses. Today, residential and mixed-use are dominating cities and providing most of the growth.

This development was one of the first attempts to bring people back to downtown on a 24/7 basis. The "Corncobs" as they are affectionally known look to maximize living space while also offering urban amenities like parking garage. While the building's Jetson style futuristic design may not be as prevalent, the concept has been wildly successful, thus just another trend stetting structure in Chicago. Today the property has been swallowed by larger buildings around it. However, it still has a prominent location on the Chicago River which is where we saw it on our Architectural Boat Tour. And yes there actually are some marine amenities associated with the complex, thus the name.
Written 24 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BrakiWorldTraveler
Belgrade, Serbia17,648 contributions
Chicago's ugliest skyscrapers
Apr 2022
I see I'm in a big minority here, but this is my opinion.
Contrary to that my wife likes them.
First we saw these two corn cobs on our architecture boat tour. Guide explained these were the first self sufficient buildings in a city effort to bring people back downtown. They had everything packed in these corns from the garage on lower levels (that's definitely the ugliest thing), washing facilities and gym to residential apartments further up.
Next morning we walked the Riverwalk and I stared for some 5 min trying to like it.
No way - looking the whole picture with other buildings around they look like unfinished yet or like they ran out the funds to put the final glass facade.
Written 23 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Taylor B
Chicago, IL8,751 contributions
A model for urban development throughout the world
Jun 2021
Chicago is known as a city of architecture and one of the most unique and most visible and most significant structures is Marina City. Located at 300 North State Street, overlooking the Chicago River, it is a mixed-use residential/commercial building complex. Designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg, it occupies almost an entire city block. Completed between 1964 and 1968, the complex consists of two 587-foot, 65-story apartment towers. It also includes a 10-story hotel and a saddle-shaped auditorium building that originally was used as a cinema. Beneath the twin towers, at river level, is a small marina for pleasure craft, giving the complex its name. When finished, the two towers were both the tallest residential buildings and the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world. Built as a "city within a city," with a marina, bowling alley, ice rink, swimming pool, gymnasium, theater, retail shops and restaurants, with a base of parking, it has become a primary model for urban development in the United States and throughout the world and has been widely copied in many cities internationally as an effort to reverse the pattern of white flight from the city's downtown area. The two towers contain identical floor plans. The bottom 19 floors form an exposed spiral parking ramp operated by valet with approximately 896 parking spaces. The 20th floor of each tower contains a laundry room and gym with panoramic views of Chicago's Loop. Floors 21 through 60 contain apartments, 450 per tower. On the 61st and top story is a 360-degree open-air roof deck. The apartments are unusual in that they contain almost no interior right angles. Each unit terminates in a 175-square-foot semi-circular balcony separated from living areas by a floor-to-ceiling window wall. Interestingly, every single living room and bedroom in Marina City has a balcony. In addition, the towers are noted for the high speed of their elevators, a joy to residents in tall buildings. It takes about 33 seconds to travel from the lower-level lobby to the 61st floor roof deck. In the 1960s and 1970s, Marina City was known as the popular home of former football star Johnny Lattner's restaurant.
Written 12 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jgbtravels
Louisville, KY3,443 contributions
Iconic Chicago architecture at its best.
May 2021 • Couples
Iconic Chicago architecture at its best. Who doesn’t love these structures? You can get good views from a boat tour(we took Wendella) or from the south side of the river off of Michigan Avenue. These are photos you keep forever.
Written 26 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
brmusicman
Chicago, IL3,100 contributions
Iconic
Dec 2019
Marina City (sometimes referred to as the "corn cobs") is a residential complex on the Chicago River of some architectural renown. Goldberg, the architect, was not fond of hard angles, and so the entire building features round edges; the primary building material is concrete. (For another, lower-rise of Goldberg's aversion to angles and affection for concrete, visit his River City complex in the South Loop.) You may find them 'of their era' (they were built in the 1960s, but were the first high-rise residential complex built after WWII), but they are iconic and worth seeing! An office building that was once part of the complex is now a hotel, and the movie theater that was once part of the complex is now the House of Blues; these are open to the public, but the apartments themselves are not. (Google "Marina City," though, for views of the interior and a sense of what these apartments cost.) Marina City is easily viewed from the street, riverwalk, or an architecture cruise.
Written 1 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TeamWard
Nottingham, UK5,175 contributions
Iconic building
Jul 2019
On the banks of the Chicago river, its easy to spot Marina City also known as the Corncobs buildings, iconic and worth finding.
Written 14 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
William W
St. Petersburg, FL1,088 contributions
Part of Chicago's Architectural History
Aug 2019
When it was first built, I am sure it was a modern concept with a residential building being self sufficient with everything people would need. Take it for what it is, or I should say what it was, but Chicago's building architecture has far progressed from over 50 years ago. While there are much older buildings, like the old post office, but to me they have more character than the corn cobs.
Written 3 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nathalie P
6,476 contributions
One of a kind towers
Aug 2019 • Family
Chicago is full of magnificent buildings but these towers are an original gem you can watch from the mob tour by bus or the architecture cruise by boat. The parking garage are open air at the lower levels and the apartments at the upper levels.
Written 21 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Martin S
Cranford, NJ1,531 contributions
Unique look still stands out over 50 years later
Jun 2019 • Solo
When this residential complex ( 2 60 story high rises) was built back in the 60s, it’s circular design was unique in the day. It’s look still stands out over 50 years later in this architecturally significant city.

The complex can be seen well from the south side of the river, on one of the nearby bridges or from Riverwalk.

It continues to be part of the unique architecture in the city of Chicago. It has been affectionately known as the “Corn Cobbs” which is obvious when viewed😀.
Written 12 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Marina City (Chicago) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

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