The timber loft building, which lines the north side of Ogden Slip, was originally named Pugh Terminal and used as a wholesale exhibition center predating the Merchandise Mart.

[1] It was redeveloped into commercial uses as part of Cityfront Center, a 1985 master plan for 50 acres of what were industrial and port facilities in south Streeterville.

[2] The renovation was proposed in 1987 by Robert Meers, who envisioned it was "not a festival market, but a specialized retailing center," complementary to Navy Pier or the Magnificent Mile, a few blocks east or west.

"The property never lived up to expectations," as a local business newspaper wrote, even after it was renamed River East Plaza in 1997 and marketed to artists and art galleries.

In 2013, it was purchased out of bankruptcy court[7] by a developer who subsequently converted the building into the Lofts at River East apartments and closed the interior mall.