| The Plaza on DeWitt | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Residential |
| Location | 260 E. Chestnut Street Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates | |
| Construction started | 1963 |
| Completed | 1966 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 395 ft (120 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 43 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill |
The Plaza on DeWitt was completed in 1966 as a residential apartment building at 260 E. Chestnut Street in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. It was converted to condominiums in 1975.[1] On the ground floor, a French bistro, Le Petit Paris, formerly Zaven's, serves traditional French cuisine.[2] It has been noted to have many problems, including frequent dangerous elevator malfunctions and unrenovated units, and has suffered from poor management. Recently, there are reportedly bedbug problems in the building and the Plaza on Dewitt management will not pay for bed bug eradication. It is most well known[says who?] for its two fires in 2002 and 2009 that injured over two dozen people and killed two people. However, the Plaza on Dewitt has not installed a sprinkler system to protect its tenants, and future deaths and injuries from fires may result. The recent voice-activated alarm system has had flaws, with unintelligible voice alarms. In 2002, a fire on the 14th floor killed one and injured 11,[3] and on December 10, 2009, another fire, on the 36th floor, also killed one person and injured 12 people. About one third of the Chicago Fire Department's equipment, with about 300 firefighters, responded to the 2009 fire.[4]