Logan Square Could Say ‘Aloha’ to a Rooftop Restaurant

Developers are interested in building a 44-room hotel across from the Northwest corner of Logan Square Park with a rooftop restaurant and one on the ground floor. Fifty/50 Restaurant Group would reportedly operate both. The plan needs city approvals, as the project would take over the former Grace’s Furniture Building at 2618 N. Milwaukee Avenue, across the street from the CTA’s Logan Square Blue Line Stop.

Fifty/50 has not confirmed the plans, but the Tribune got the scoop from 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa. The hotel would be operated by Holiday Jones. The company has a hostel in Wicker Park that includes a 5411 Empanadas on the first floor. Rumors about a hotel started over the summer. Yes, this is the same building known for the infamous Aloha movie billboard.

The building is five stories and Fifty/50 has experience with hotel and rooftop restaurants and bars. The company is best-known for its first restaurant and namesake, a sports bar with some of the city’s best chicken wings. But in recent years they’ve diversified. They run Steadfast, an upscale Loop restaurant on the ground floor of the Kimpton Gray Hotel. The company also has a rooftop bar at the Dana Hotel & Spa in River North. Apogee features elaborate cocktails from barman Benjamin Schiller. Portsmith, The Dana’s ground-floor restaurant, is seafood focused and also a Fifty/50 concept. They have another three hotel bars in River North at the ACME Hotel: The Berkshire Room, Bodega, and the hot tub bar Bunny Slope. The Trib’s report didn’t mention a rooftop bar — only a restaurant. Fifty/50’s Homestead on the Roof in West Town could be a jumping-off point for the new project.

The owner of Owen & Engine, Bo Fowler, plans on opening Bixi — a pan-Asian restaurant/microbrewery — in early 2018. That project should have the neighborhood’s first rooftop patio. The hotel would join Bixi, but it’s a long way out from any potential opening or construction. The Trib reported that a public meeting could take place either in the winter or the spring. This could affect Logan Square they way The Robey — another boutique hotel with bar/food options on the ground and on the roof — affected Wicker Park.

• Boutique hotel with 44 rooms, two restaurants planned in Logan Square [Tribune]
• Hotel proposed for heart of Logan Square [Curbed Chicago]
• Logan Square's infamous 'Aloha' billboard finally taken down [Time Out]
• Tour River North’s Revamped Rooftop With $15K Bottles of Pappy and More [Eater Chicago]
• Alderman to host public meeting to discuss Milwaukee Avenue downzoning [Curbed Chicago]
• Here's An Update On That Owen & Engine Brewpub Coming in 2016 [Eater Chicago]