Administratus Prime 
Parachutes, pile-ups, pyrotechnics and other stunts associated with the filming of “Transformers 3” have been closing downtown streets — and ruffled a few feathers along Michigan Avenue. The Michael Bay-directed movie starring Shia LaBeouf is shooting all around the InterContinental Hotel at 505 N. Michigan Ave. until Monday.
“We’ve had some upset guests who want to be compensated,” said Erin Jesse, the hotel’s director of sales. Guests getting picked up or dropped off must do so at the entrance on Lower Michigan Avenue or walk to the InterContinental from Ohio Street, she said.
“The hotel was already fully booked before this weekend,” she said, but no one has canceled any events or rooms. The Institute of Food Technologists, holding its annual meeting at McCormick Place, had reserved a number of guest and meeting rooms at the InterContinental.
Two other hotels are also in the path of “Transformers 3” filming, as Wacker Drive is due to shut down between Michigan and Wabash Avenue from late Sunday until early Thursday. But general managers at Club Quarters and Hotel 71 — at 75 E. and 71 E. Wacker, respectively —don’t expect much disruption to their business. A guest pick-up and drop-off spot will be set up near Wacker and Wabash.
Hotel 71 General Manager Steve Shern said a number of rooms have been booked because of the property’s proximity to the filming. “It’s more exciting than anything else,” Mr. Shern said.
Hotel 71’s glass-walled 39th floor ballroom is being used for filming. The site also served as character Bruce Wayne’s bedroom in “The Dark Knight,” said Mr. Shern, when the latest “Batman” movie filmed in Chicago in 2007.
For “Transformers,” stunt skydivers and film helicopters will hover over Wacker Drive on Saturday and Sunday, with base jumpers and low-flying choppers being used between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
That could force some temporary street closings for Kinzie, State, Dearborn and Hubbard streets and Stetson Avenue in the vicinity of Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue. “Transformers” is scheduled to film in Chicago until Aug. 19. The third “Transformers” movie is expected to create more than 200 jobs and generate at least $20 million in spending, according to the city.
-Chicago Business
