The longtime owner of the Green Mill, a jazz club on Chicago’s North Side known for booking famous musicians, Hollywood cameos and Prohibition-era ties to gangster Al Capone, is looking to sell the Uptown property that includes the historic club.
The two-level, 21,300-square-foot property at 4800-4810 N. Broadway is listed for sale by local brokerage Kudan Group, according to marketing materials.
It is billed as the chance to own a property with established tenants within Uptown’s entertainment district, which includes several other historic theaters and music venues such as the Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera. The Green Mill property is adjacent to the long-shuttered Uptown Theatre.
The listing for Green Mill Gardens, as the property is still sometimes called, also offers the chance to own a piece of Chicago entertainment history.
Musicians who have performed at the Green Mill include Billie Holiday, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr.
Regular, long-ago guests at the Green Mill included Capone, Frank Sinatra and early film stars such as Charlie Chaplin. Capone, according to local lore, had a favorite booth close to a trap door leading to a series of tunnels beneath the club, allowing for quick escapes. The booth was preferred because it was said to have clear sightlines of the front and back entrances.
But the layout of the bar differs today after being redesigned following an extensive fire in 1933, when Capone was in prison for tax evasion, according to Chicago writer Robert Loerzel.
The Green Mill also has appeared in several movies, including “High Fidelity,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Thief,” “Family Thing” and “Ocean’s Twelve.”
The seller of the property is Dave Jemilo, who has owned the jazz venue since 1986. He bought the early-1900s building for $5 million in December 2021, according to Cook County property records and CoStar data.
It is unclear how much Jemilo is expecting in a sale. Jemilo and brokers representing him in the sale did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CoStar News. The Uptown Update previously reported the property going on the market.
A sale could allow Jemilo to cash in decades after first buying the club that in the ’80s needed significant repairs.
“It was dirty, filthy,” Jemilo told the Chicago Tribune in 2016. “The bathrooms were just a mess. Everything was torn apart.
“So I come in here and I think: Holy crap, is this place beautiful!”
The Green Mill already is among tenants that pay rent to the Jemilo real estate venture that owns the property, with more than 80% of the space leased, according to the property brochure.
Other tenants in the low-rise brick structure include another music venue, Le Nocturne, Michelin Bib Gourmand-rated restaurant Birrieria Zaragoza, Carmela’s Taqueria, Sky’s Beverage Depot and small offices.
For the record
The seller is represented by Kudan Group brokers Brian Laskov and Georg Simos.