Reader Upset with "New Policy" at Gino's East South Loop

Well the new Gino's East (521 S. Dearborn) is open and while this may be good news to some, one reader isn't so happy about a new policy being adopted:

Hey, Sloopy ... 

Thought I would send you a scoop about a lame "new policy" at the brand-new Gino's East in the South Loop. 

Gino's turned my husband, 2-year-old daughter and me away tonight around 8 p.m. because they don't allow children under age 15 in after 7:30. This after serving us around 10 p.m. on their opening day two weeks ago. The manager claimed the "new policy" was because they were part sports bar? Really? You serve PIZZA in a neighborhood FULL of families. This is likely to get a LOT of buzz on neighborhood discussion boards ... family-friendliness is one of the South Loop's major assets, so it stinks that any business would turn customers away. 

Sharing with your widely-read blog so other families can 1) avoid the displeasure of being shooed away and 2) consider taking their business elsewhere. We will NEVER go back there, even during the hours the presence of a child is tolerated. 

(Hat tip: M and R Smith!) 

Ahhhh....Paradise! New Spa coming to 832 S. Wabash

A contributor to the blog recently was strolling down Wabash and noticed that Henry Hampton Floral has moved locations to 1335 S. State and that Paradise Spa will be opening up soon at 832 S. Wabash.

It sure seems like a lot of signs have been popping up on windows around the neighborhood.  We're rapidly approaching double digits in our 2012 business counter.  Seems like 2012 is shaping to be pretty good on the retail front for the Sloop!

(Hat tip: NS!)

Proposed Development Moving Forward as Old Building at Canal and Taylor is Being Demolished?

Back in late January news spread that a big new retail development was coming to the corner of Canal and Taylor (across the street from the Whole Foods, Marshal's, DSW, etc).  The article didn't say much about timing, but judging by the image above, maybe pictures speak louder than words.

Furthermore, a reader sent us this earlier in the week:

Was at the Panera on Canal/Roosevelt overlooking the area being torn down when a woman began asking me if I lived nearby, how busy was it at lunch time and what businesses were in the area... I answered all fairly confidently and then asked her about the interesting line of questioning to which she responded she was from Potbelly and they were looking at opening across the street (where the demolition is taking place). 

She then sat down with a colleague and one other person (who I take to be a developer) for a discussion about the development. The developer guy began rattling off a list of interested parties as well as those who had signed on and I was able to overhear a handful... They included Banana Republic Outlet, Ulta 3, Chick Fil-a, Container Store, Ross, Pier 1, Dicks Sporting Goods, REI and Butcher Burger... 

Obviously I have no way to confirm this, I'm not in development or work for any of the companies but since I overheard it I thought I'd pass it along to you all to see if you could dig anything up. If all, or even some, of the list are true it could be quite a development for the Roosevelt shopping corridor especially when added to the businesses going in over by Icon.

If this is true, it would be pretty exciting.  Regardless, officially the status of the project still remains unclear.  Does anyone know anything about this?

For those interested, here is arendering of the new proposed development coming to this space:

Image from Chicago Real Estate Daily

(Hat tip: AM!)

Tribune States Roosevelt CTA Station Has the Most Crime in the City

We've been hearing a lot about crime in the city recently and yesterday a couple people brought a surprising article by the Chicago Tribune to our attention which no doubt will draw some negative attention to the neighborhood:

That Roosevelt stop, which serves the Green and Orange lines on the elevated tracks and the Red Line below, was the No. 1 station for rail crime between 2009 and June 13 of this year, according to the analysis.  

St. George, who is working as an intern at the Shedd Aquarium, seemed surprised when advised that she should consider keeping the phone out of view. "So I should put the phone in my purse? Thank you, I appreciate it," she said.

In addition to the Red Line, which operates around the clock between some of Chicago's most affluent neighborhoods as well as through some of its poorest, crimes committed against rail passengers were also pervasive on the Green Line, which goes through the West Side, and the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line, which also travels east-west, the analysis found.

When I first heard this, I was frankly surprised.  I've been using the Roosevelt stop for years and never had an incident (knock on wood).  While we've seen some things and posted about crimes at this stop, I've never felt like this stop was the worst in the city in respect to crime.

Perplexed, we looked at the article and found an interesting statement:

Crimes targeting CTA customers are highly concentrated in the downtown area, where dozens of bus routes converge and Loop trains operate, as well as on the entire Red Line, according to a new Tribune analysis. 

Ok, this makes sense.  Where the most people come and go probably results in the most crime.  However, looking closer at the Tribune's list and map, you will notice that none of the stops in the Loop are cited as "stations with the most crimes".  Upon examining the story further we found this little blurb about loop stations:

Because of the close proximity of stations in the Loop, both elevated and subway, crimes could not confidently be attributed to individual stations.  Similar limitations occurred at the Roosevelt subway and elevated stations.

So, if I'm reading this right, these "limitations" prevented loop stations from being included in the study, but not the Roosevelt station?  Interesting.

I'm not suggesting that there aren't a lot of crimes around the Roosevelt stop or that it should not be a serious issue in the neighborhood.  I'm just upset that such a negative statement about our neighborhood is being widely circulated across the city even though "limitations" about this study (and specifically this stop) exist.

Yes, the Tribune put an asterisk by the Roosevelt stop, but why didn't they do the same for the Loop stations and include those in the study?  Regardless, the South Loop is left with a city wide perception (or fact if you believe it) that the "Roosevelt station has the most crime in the city".

So what do you think?  Are we missing the point?  Are we simply trying to spin this to make the South Loop look better?  Did the Tribune recklessly give the Sloop a black-eye?  Does this change your perception of the neighborhood?  or the Roosevelt stop?

(Hat tip: N & AS!)

What's Up With the South Exit from the Roosevelt Green/Orange Line Platform?

Peeking over the fence at the South Exit
from the Orange/Green Line at Roosevelt 

If you're a frequent CTA rider and one that uses the Green/Orange line South exit, you've probably gotten frustrated that it's been closed recently.  Without much warning or explanation (or at least that we saw), construction on the sidewalk and exit commenced quickly.

A reader writes:

Do you know what is taking place at the south end exit of the Roosevelt green/orange platform? I was thinking maybe they were going to be turning it into a full entrance/exit to help prevent people from running across the street in the middle of traffic after getting off the east-bound buses? Any other ideas?

We asked around a little, but didn't hear anything definitive.  We heard they were doing something with a gas line, but we're not sure of the validity of this.  If you peak over the fence, it looks like they did some digging (which could validate the gas story), but why did they have to rip down the entire exit?


While we can't confirm or deny that they're making it a full entrance/exit, we would love to see this.  Or simply allow people who have cards to enter from this location.  It seems like it would help reduce the number of people illegally crossing Roosevelt to get into the CTA entrance.


Does anyone have a clue what's going on here?


(Hat tip: LR & N!)

Digging at the Old Eco18 Empty Lot (Wabash & 18th)

Digging at the old Eco 18 lot (Wabash and 18th)

A reader writes:

There's some activity this week on the old Eco18 site at Wabash and 18th. They're digging out a bunch of dirt on the north side of the lot. Couldn't find any information on it other than the original party sold the land to someone else at some point.

Hmmm, that's perplexing.  Does anyone have a clue about what's going on there?

We did some searching on the interwebs and did find a post from the real estate blog YoChicago on June 7th, 2012 pretty much saying the lot sits undeveloped.

Clearly something is going on.  Hopefully it's something cool like a free community water park!  But we doubt that's the case.

(Hat tip: KS!)

Business Coming to "80s" Office Building on Polk in Printers Row?

A reader writes:

Hey- 

Have you noticed that construction has started inside the rather 80s looking office space on Polk that is across the alley from Blackies? (sorry, don't know the address!). It has been vacant for the 3 years I have lived in Printers Row. 

Just wondering.... 

While we aren't sure if this is the building, we're guessing it is what the reader is talk about:

We don't know what is going on, does anyone have a clue if a business is moving in or if they're just modernizing to try to attract a leasee?

UPDATE (Hat tip AD!)
LOUISVILLE, Colo.– January 18, 2012 – zColo, a Zayo Group company, announces it is opening a facility in downtown Chicago, located at 600 South Federal St to deliver colocation and interconnection services. This will be zColo’s first location in downtown Chicago and 13th facility in the U.S. The carrier neutral colocation space will offer 8,500 sellable square feet and support up to 200 watts per square foot for high-power density applications. Services are anticipated to be available by the end of Q2 2012.

The site will leverage Zayo’s Bandwidth Infrastructure including its metro fiber network in Chicago and access to its 44,000-mile national network. The facility will offer a new downtown connectivity option to serve financial industry, media and other internet content customers.

 “Industry reports show that growth in demand for data center services in Chicago has exceeded supply by 50% over the prior two years,” states Chris Morley, President of zColo. “As a carrier-neutral provider, we plan to partner with other carriers in the Chicago area to support this demand.”

(Hat tip:  SL!)

Showplace Icon Theater Gets Upgraded Sound System

If you ask us, the Showplace Icon Theater at Roosevelt Collection is the best movie theater we've ever been to.  Yes, it's in the South Loop so we're partial, but the image quality and sound is so engulfing it's hard for us to contemplate how this could get any better.

Well apparently this weekend, it's about to.  From the Chicagoist blog:

This weekend the ICON offers an extra treat: it is one of only 14 theaters in the country to showcase a new "3D Sound" technology from Dolby at screenings of Pixar's Brave. 

Dolby has dubbed the new audio platform Atmos and billed it as the successor to 7.1 Surround. Nobody not named Phil Spector pines for the days of Mono, but the march from mono to stereo to 5.1 surround sound to 7.1 surround sound can make one's head spin. Are we ready for 64 separate channels and two arrays of overhead speakers? Well that depends.

So what does that even mean?  Here is an interesting (and pretty technical) video explaining the evolution to Dolby's Atmos platform:

Pretty cool.  I wonder if we will be able to tell the difference.

Regardless, can't wait to try it out.  Glad to see that our theater continues to be state-of-the-art and pushing the boundaries of what the movie experience should be about.

Readers are Right: City Tavern First to Open

With City Tavern opening up last night, it looks like the readers were right.  After a couple of delays we were unsure if one of the other new South Michigan establishments would open up first.  A reader sent us this picture:

While CT might have beat the others to the punch, it appears that they are pretty close to opening as well.

Square One has a countdown clock on their website that says they're going to open on July 5th (even though we heard they were shooting for July 1st).  Alain's has taken the paper down from their windows to reveal a rustic decor that would suggest that they're damn near close to opening.  And we recently saw people putting things in Karamela...which would suggest they're getting close as well.

Soon enough we will have some new things to try out!

(Hat tip: ET!)

Debate Rages About High-Schools in the Sloop

If you have any interest in schools for our neighborhood, we highly suggest you read this article by Greg Hinz in Chicagobusiness.com.  It take a look at the debate and delimmea with the neighborhoods high-school situation:

Nothing unites a community and makes people want to live there like a good school for the kids, particularly a high school. But in these days of very tight finances, what you want and what you can get often are two different things. 

Add in some stark socioeconomic differences plus a dash of good ol' Chicago politics and you get an idea of what's at stake in a revealing dispute over what kind of public schooling to offer in the fast-growing South Loop. 

On one side are Ald. Bob Fioretti, 2nd, and a group of constituents who want Chicago Public Schools to convert the old Jones College Prep high school on South State Street to a neighborhood school when the new controlled-enrollment Jones opens in the fall of 2014. 

On the other side is the Board of Education, which insists that there just aren't enough students in the South Loop and adjoining areas to warrant the expenditure. The board now plans to demolish the old Jones. 

The article goes onto to discuss some solutions that are being bandied about.  Nothing is obviously resolved, but it should be interesting.  One option Fioretti is throwing around is to rennovate the Old Jones Prep school and have it completely devoted to neighborhood kids.  But it doesn't sound like the school board is keen on that idea:

Renovating the 45-year-old Jones structure for a neighborhood high school would cost $18 million to $25 million, according to the board. Demolishing the school would cost $5 million to $10 million — meaning someone would have to come up with $10 million or so, not counting annual operating costs.

I must admit, it will be extremely difficult for anyone now to make a public case for not only building one new high school in one neighborhood, but spending a ton more to renovate a second high school in the same neighborhood.

Should be interesting.  What do you think?  Does the South Loop need a high-school solely devoted to the neighborhood?

(Hat tip: GL!)

Nice Name! Sloop Dental Coming to 14th Place and Wabash

When we first heard that the dental office moving into the retail space at 14th Place and Wabash was going to be called "Sloop Dental" we thought, "nice name bro".

It's not everyday that a business adopts a nickname you feel so passionate about.  Anyway, best of luck to them and please don't tarnish our name!

New Restaurant Coming to corner of Clark and Polk?

A reader writes:

I was walking today and noticed a building permit in the southernmost storefront in the Burnham Pointe building on Polk and Clark. The permit says it is for a first time restaurant build out - any idea what it may be? 

Thanks! 

We aren't sure, we did some searching but didn't have much luck. Anyone have any ideas on what this could be?

(Hat tip: M!)

Free Admission to Shedd Aquarium until Sunday (6/24)

From the Tribune:

One of Chicago's top tourist attractions is offering a free week for Illinois residents.

The Shedd Aquarium has free general admission through Sunday. That includes its "Waters of the World" and "Amazon Rising" exhibits. The Aquarium will also offer discounted admission to other exhibits including the Abbott Oceanarium and "Jellies," which showcases several kinds of jelly fish.

The aquarium is also extending its hours through Wednesday. The Shedd will be open until 8 p.m.

Mexican American Grill Opening at 2333 S. Michigan

We've spent a lot of time pondering what may or may not become Motor Row this year.  It's hard to discern what is talk and what is real, but a reader sent us a picture (above) of a new "Mexican American Grill" coming to 2333 S. Michigan:

I was riding my bike this morning and ran into some movers at 2333 so. Michigan. The owner came out and said they expect to open a Mexican cafe restaurant in August.

As we like to say, filled retail space is better than vacant retail space.  Welcome to the neighborhood!

(Hat tip: RG!)