Update: I revisited the corner store above in May of 2020. I revisited the buildings in the two photos below in December of 2022.

You can tell that Cass Avenue was once a major thoroughfare through the Near North Side. Heavily devastated by demolition and abandonment, it is one of the most barren streets in the city.

I find it ironic that this building above was a car lot; it was the automobile after all, that allowed this all to happen.

Update: The building below was demolished in July of 2017 for the new National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

The building above, just west of Jefferson, curiously has a neighbor that is at a different orientation than the rest of the buildings on Cass. Below, one of the remaining businesses, at Jefferson, advertises for its granite business.

Update: The Clemens Mansion was completely destroyed by suspected arson in the early morning hours of July 12, 2017. Supposedly the City cut its ties with the Northside TIF in June of 2018.

And finally, further east, the Clemens Mansion continues to sit empty, its front porch removed for “safekeeping” while the Northside development continues its way through the courts.