For more than a century, historic Medinah Temple has stood as Chicago’s exotic monument to adaptive reuse.
The Moorish-style amphitheater topped by two massive copper onion domes has hosted the annual Shrine Circus, recording sessions for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and, after flirting with demolition at the dawn of the new millennium, a furniture store.
Operating as a temporary casino since September 2023, the ornate 132,600-square-foot building on Wabash Avenue will soon need to reinvent itself again after Bally’s moves into its permanent facility next year.
“I’m completely open-minded,” said Albert Friedman, 77, who is on his second run as owner of the landmarked Medinah Temple. “I want to come up with the highest and best use for the future of the property.”
A prolific real estate developer dubbed the “Mayor of River North” for his extensive renovation and repurposing of historic buildings lining the once-dilapidated Near North Side neighborhood, Friedman is already reimagining Medinah Temple as an experiential palace, with everything from a boutique hotel to a brick-and-mortar mall for online retailers on the table.
For a man who turned a hot dog stand into a real estate empire, anything is possible.
Founded in 1970, Friedman Properties began with a portfolio of two inherited buildings, including the family’s hot dog stand at 500 N. Clark St. It now encompasses more than 50 buildings and 5 million square feet, accumulated and renovated across five decades.
Decked out in a suit, the spry Friedman recently led a speed-walking tour of his eclectic real estate holdings radiating out from his headquarters at 350 N. Clark St. in the area he rebranded and redeveloped as River North. Bouncing from building to building and block to block, he went in and out of back entranceways, up and down stairs, fist-bumping tenants and entering every doorway emblazoned with a Friedman Properties sign with impunity — and a backstory.
Notable stops along the tour included the former Cook County Criminal Courts building at 54 W. Hubbard St., which Friedman bought from the city for $2.8 million in 1985, restoring and converting the historic limestone courthouse into offices.
Then there’s the Reid Murdoch building at 325 N. LaSalle St. along the Chicago River, which he acquired in 1998. Recently renovated, the hulking seven-story building houses everything from Whirlpool’s Chicago office and the River Roast restaurant to “Theater of the Mind,” a new experiential production co-created by Talking Heads front man David Byrne.
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“These buildings could have all been lost. Those histories could have been lost,” said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. “He really did infuse a vision and a huge amount of capital into restoring these buildings and revisioning them, rethinking them for a variety of different purposes.”
Among the many such transformations under the Friedman banner, repurposing Medinah Temple may have been the most ambitious.
Built by the Shriners in 1912, Medinah Temple was designed by architecture firm Huehl and Schmid. Over the years the venue hosted everything from concerts and high school graduations to the annual Shrine Circus. Amenities included a 30,000-pound pipe organ installed in 1915.
But the building fell into disrepair and disuse. In 1996, Landmarks Illinois added Medinah Temple to its list of the 10 most endangered historic places in the state. There was good reason for concern. Medinah Temple had not yet been granted landmark status by the city and a developer was planning to raze it to make way for a new building.
Vintage baiduhai: Medinah Temple — from Shriners to circus, couches to casino — through the decades
In 2000, politicos from then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to then-first lady Hillary Clinton intervened, recruiting Friedman to save Medinah Temple. Friedman came up with an inventive plan for adaptive reuse: getting Federated Department Stores to buy into redeveloping the building as a home furnishings store.
Friedman Properties received more than $12 million in tax increment financing from the city to support a $60 million redevelopment of the entire block, including the adjacent Tree Studios, a century-old enclave for artists listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The city named Medinah Temple as a Chicago landmark in 2001, protecting it from demolition.
In 2003, Freidman sold the building to Federated Department Stores, but retained the land. The retailer opened the Bloomingdale’s Home Store there in 2003. When the store closed in 2019, Friedman bought the building back for about $25 million.
Friedman initially planned to redevelop it as a mixed-use retail concept, with dining, shopping and entertainment offerings.
“We had someone who was ready to move in and do the whole thing, actually even have more than just hospitality,” Friedman said. “They were going to have some high-end hotel rooms there too.”
But those plans changed in 2022, when the city tapped Friedman to turn Medinah into the temporary home for Bally’s Chicago while a $1.7 billion casino complex was built on the site of the former Freedom Center printing plant in River West.
Bally’s spent $70 million to convert the historic River North facility into a gambling palace.
Results have been mixed, with Bally’s Chicago ranking sixth among the state’s 17 casinos with $67.7 million in adjusted gross receipts through the first half of 2026, according to the latest report from the Illinois Gaming Board.
“Bally’s has been a fine tenant,” Friedman said. “They’ve been absolutely fine, and it’s an evolution of where things are going.”
Bally’s completed a topping-off ceremony in April and is planning to move into its permanent casino during the first quarter of 2027. With the lease at Medinah running through the end of next year, Friedman has some time, but a lot of space to fill, beginning in January 2028.
Friedman has launched a worldwide search to find new tenants, rolling the dice once again on the next adaptive reuse of one of Chicago’s most unusual historic buildings.
That will entail reconfiguring the space while preserving its historic details, such as stained glass windows and the theater proscenium, which long framed the auditorium stage.
“It’s not just a warehouse, it’s not a box,” Friedman said. “It’s an architectural landmark.”
Friedman said Medinah Temple would likely have an experiential component ahead, much like the post-pandemic trend on Michigan Avenue, where The Cube and The Hand & The Eye magic show have replaced a traditional retail and restaurant space, respectively.
One thing to bet on: It probably won’t be a circus.
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“That’s highly unlikely,” Friedman said. “You can’t have something that is seasonal, you can’t have something that is twice a year. It’s got to be something that’s 365 and that’s really the main issue.”
Miller, who was part of Landmarks Illinois when it led the call to save Medinah Temple three decades ago, said its transformation from auditorium to furniture store to casino shows how flexible historic buildings can be.
Under the stewardship of Friedman, Miller is confident that Medinah Temple will have a future as well, something that was once very much in doubt.
“We’re all really interested to see what becomes of Medinah Temple,” Miller said. “Thanks to the landmark designation and Freidman’s acquisition of the site, we know that it’s not going to be demolished.”