Hideout Owners Among Group Questioning Alderman’s Oversight Over Lincoln Yards

Chicago’s City Council Rules Committee missed the deadline Tuesday to agree on new ward boundaries — a scheduled meeting to unveil the new map was cancelled, the Tribune reports. A group of independent music venues owners eagerly await those results as they’ve mounted a campaign to remove the Lincoln Yards development from Ald. (2nd Ward) Brian Hopkins’ district.

Last week, Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL) — the group that’s fought to keep concerts venues afloat during the pandemic — issued a statement, Block Club Chicago reports, that argued that Hopkins’s support for the $6 billion mixed-use development would be harmful to local small businesses. There was worry mega-promoter Live Nation would operate within a $5 billion “entertainment district” inside the development, but Hopkins has since said those plans won’t materialize. Although the Live Nation won’t have an ownership stake in the development, it may have some involvement in the development which concerns venue owners. Live Nation’s contracts often include “radius clauses” that prevent artists at its venues from performing elsewhere in the city for a specified period of time.

“It’s kind of like having the fox watch the hen house, right?” Katie Tuten, co-owner of the Hideout, a bar and music venue close to the Lincoln Yards site, and co-chair of CIVL, said, according to Block Club. “It was Alderman Hopkins who was pushing for the development, so it might be beneficial to the citizens of Chicago to have someone who might have a more watchful eye.”

Ald. (32nd Ward) Scott Waguespack told the Daily Line he’d submitted a proposal last week that would shift the boundaries of his district eastward to encompass Lincoln Yards, but Hopkins opposed it.

Rick Bayless teams up with Smashburger

Rick Bayless and Smashburger are teaming up as the fast-casual chain launched the Chorizo Cheeseburger by Chef Rick Bayless on Tuesday. The chai touts it as its “first-ever Hispanic-inspired burger” (it’s not “Latinx” as Bayless isn’t of Latin-American descent). It’s a beef burger topped with Mexican-style chorizo, cheddar cheese, jalapeno pico de gallo, lettuce, and mayo and served on a toasted spicy chipotle bun, and it’s available at all Smashburger locations until February 15. For every burger purchased, the chain will make a contribution to Bayless’s Frontera Farmer Foundation, which supports Midwestern farmers; the goal is to raise $75,000.

16” on Center scraps plans for Medinah Temple

Holocene Chicago, a rotating assortment of pop-up shops and food stalls, will not be opening in the Medinah Temple in River North after all: owner Friedman Properties has put the four-story, 138,000-square-foot building up for lease, Crain’s reports. The project had been announced in April by Friedman, along with Blue Star Properties, the team behind Revival Food Hall (and a sister company of 16” on Center, which operates a number of Chicago venues, including the Empty Bottle in Ukrainian Village and Thalia Hall in Pilsen). The temple, built by the Shriners in 1912, was designated a city landmark in 2001 and was most recently occupied by Bloomingdale’s Home until 2019.

Wicker Park Farmers Market comes in from the cold

The Wicker Park Farmers Market moves indoors to the Den Theatre (1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue) this Saturday, December 4, for its annual winter market. Twenty-five vendors will be on hand to sell produce, baked goods, and hot food between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The market will continue on select Saturdays through April; see the website for the complete schedule and vendor list. SNAP/LINK cards are accepted, and masks are required for everyone over the age of 2.