Bangers & Lace Team Snag Hubbard Street Space

Thinking the area needs a little bit of an edge, the crew behind Bangers & Lace and the forthcoming Anthem will soon enter River North. In February, the team bought the building that last housed Swirl Wine Bar and have been sitting on it while they focused on their other projects. As soon as the Anthem opens, which is now looking like the first week in November, they'll begin the build-out on this site, according to partner Jason Freiman.

Freiman and his partners, Nick Podesta, Matt Eisler and Kevin Heisner, aim to open the tri-level spot at 111 W. Hubbard in spring of 2012. While concrete plans and a name are still up in the air, Freiman said it will definitely be a bar-driven concept and will serve food. "We're in the bar business and that space naturally embraces it," Freiman said. He added they had been eyeing that building before it became available, and when it did, they jumped on it. "It's a free-standing 120 year old property," he said. "It has the most character on the street."
Home of the new bar-driven project [Photo: Chicago Bar Project]
[UPDATE 2/03/2014: Freiman, Eisler, Heisner, and Podesta say they were never owners, partners, or had anything to do with this project, which turned into Celeste. Freiman says was misquoted in this story. Nader, Fadi and Rafid Hindo own Celeste.]