"The Medinah Temple site is unique because of the vintage nature of the building," says Jack Hrufka, SVP store design at Bloomingdale's. "That adds value for us."

The Shiners organization, which has long owned the building, wanted to sell Medinah to a high-rise developer in order to maximize its returns on the sale. The redevelopment deal engineered by Mayor Richard Daley, who insisted Medinah Temple not be torn down, gives the Shiner's a rich $21 million price tag for their property.

Hrufka says that preserving the character of the Medinah Temple, including restoration of the building's long lost onion domes, is part of Bloomingdale's strategy. "Because of the strong urban setting, we really want to preserve the building's uniqueness," he said. "The Medinah Temple store will not be like our other locations, which will be done more to a standard design. This uniqueness is very good for us in the urban setting."