Construction Starts On Converting Long-Dormant West Loop Nightclub Into 2-Level Restaurant

Remember those plans to transform the former Chromium nightclub into a restaurant in the West Loop? They're breaking ground on the project this week on a two-floor restaurant with 200 seats and private dining. Bar Marta owner/chef Austin Baker will also serve as a consultant for the unnamed project at 817 W. Lake St. that's aiming for a spring 2017 opening.

Curiously, Baker is not consulting on the food aspect —at least not yet. He's aiding the team behind the project, Sancerre Hospitality Group, which will break ground on the restaurant this week. They’re still keeping the bulk of the details on the concept to themselves. Sancerre’s Kara Callero only wrote that they’re "contemporizing a period from the past. We’re playing with the juxtaposition between old and new, then and now."

The Chromium space, which is across from Momotaro, has stayed dormant since 2007. Sancerre’s crew is now gutting the place. Callero is joined by her husband, Frank Callero and his cousin and business partner, Steven Zaleski, as part of Sancerre. They’ve brought on popular Chicago restaurant designers Studio K Creative, World Headquarters, LG Construction + Development and Space Architects + Planners to create the restaurant space. They’ll have a bar and dining room on both floors.

"We’ve all touched hospitality and/or real estate development in some way over the past eight years, and are excited to call this our first restaurant venture," Kara Callero wrote.

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