Two former Chicago Bears want to turn a historic Motor Row showroom into a hub for entrepreneurs looking for a live-work-play destination in the South Loop.
A venture led by longtime NFL defensive ends Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers filed an application with the city today to redevelop the 115,000-square-foot Hudson Motor Building at 2222 S. Michigan Ave. into an mixed-use complex that will cater to "creative" business types with co-working space and a range of amenities including restaurants and a rooftop pool, Idonije said.
The vision for the 92-year-old facility, which would be known as FBRK (prounounced "fabric"), has shades of co-working like WeWork and membership clubs like Soho House. The anchor of the five-story project would be 40,000 square feet of office space for members, including private offices, open workspace and conference rooms.
Another 100,000 square feet would feature a gym, barbershop, restaurants and a pool designed to allow members to "live together and work together and socialize and get their work done in one space," Idonije said. "The notion is ultimately that well-rounded people build well-rounded, balanced companies."
As you may remember if you've read this here blog - Idonije has been an active entrepreneur in the Sloop. He was involved in a short lived restaurant called Alain's (1355 S. Michigan - now occupied by Kurah) that closed shortly after it opened given some issues with the main Chef. More successfully, he opened a similar co-workshop concept called Workvault at 1420 S. Michigan.
The concept discussed in the Crain's article is much bigger, but it does seem well positioned for the growth in Motor Row. Also curious to see if Julius Peppers play a role. We always thought he could have some fun business ventures (like Julius "Sweet" Pepper - like green, red, yellow peppers, or Julius Pepper'oni Pizza, etc). Additionally, it would have seemed like a logical business venture for Matt Forte to get involved with given the address of the property...(some of you may get that one...).
Anyway, should be a good move for the future growth of the area.
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