A hospitality group is bringing its Old Town Pour House concept back to Chicago, this time on LaSalle Street, in a deal that stands out as a rare example of a post-pandemic opening in the city’s longtime financial district.
Bottleneck Management this week announced plans to open the 6,206-square-foot bar and restaurant at the base of the 41-story office tower at 120 N. LaSalle St., less than a block from Google’s future Chicago home in the Thompson Center.
The return of the Old Town Pour House concept is a replacement for City Social, which shut down in the same space last month. Bottleneck Management hopes to open its restaurant by late July.
Although the deal is simply one operator replacing another, rather than an absorption of vacant space, it stands out after years of virtually no leasing activity from bars and restaurants in the central part of the Loop business district. That area of the city still has a long way to go to return to levels of office usage and foot traffic that were seen before the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020.
Bottleneck co-founder Chris Bisaillon said factors such as Google’s planned move into the under-redevelopment Thompson Center next year paved the way for his company’s first opening in the city in more than a decade.
“The LaSalle Street area has been challenged over the past many years, as most of the Loop has,” Bisaillon said. “With Google coming in kitty-corner to our location, we think that will be a driver. But most important for us, we had to have a landlord that recognized what kind of deal needed to happen for everyone to be successful. Landlords need amenities to keep and attract tenants. That played a role in finding a deal that worked for both sides.”
The Thompson Center, the glassy Helmut Jahn-designed building that for decades was home to state of Illinois employees, is in the process of being redeveloped for Google, which will buy and occupy the building with thousands of employees.
CoStar News also reported in April that investment research firm Morningstar is in talks to move its headquarters to the Thompson Center, potentially giving Google a big, rent-paying tenant.
The redevelopment has been one of the most closely watched ever in Chicago, in part because of its potential to reenergize the heart of the city.
The tower at 120 N. LaSalle also was designed by Jahn, the German-born, Chicago-based architect known for his postmodern designs. He died in 2021.
One of the LaSalle Street tower’s distinguishing features is a mural by artist Roger Brown above the entrance called “The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus.” The glass mosaic depicts the myth of Icarus flying too close to the sun with wax wings despite his father’s warnings, causing Icarus to fall into the sea and drown.
The tower is owned by Denver-based Ascentris and Dallas-based Lincoln Property, which also leases and manages the property. Lincoln and Bottleneck already had a long-standing relationship from a deal 15 years ago to open South Branch Tavern & Grille at 100 S. Wacker Drive, within an office property managed by Lincoln.
“In the Central Loop, there have been virtually no restaurant deals done since 2020,” said David Stone, one of the Stone Real Estate retail brokers who represented the landlord and tenant in the lease.
“The Bottleneck guys persevered,” Stone said. “They understand the business and have a model that works in downtowns. They have a strong lunch, they always have a great bar, and there isn’t much of that around anymore in the Central Loop.
“This is maybe the first evidence of the vaunted ‘Google effect.’ There’s also the Cadillac Palace Theatre right around the corner and residential conversions, which make this more than a standalone office building restaurant.”
The deal is an example of Loop office landlords shifting more to percentage rents and base deals, with the landlord and tenant sharing risk and upside on sales, Stone said.
“We’re thrilled to be welcoming Bottleneck into the building, and Old Town Pour House will be additive to what we believe is already a top-of-market amenity base,” said Matt Hickey, a senior vice president at Lincoln Property.
The restaurant group was founded 25 years ago by Illinois Wesleyan University classmates Jason Akemann, Nate Hilding and Bisaillon. Bottleneck now has 22 bars and restaurants throughout the country, including two in Chicago and four in the suburbs, pending the LaSalle Street opening.
Old Town Pour House closed its Wells Street location, in the North Side neighborhood for which it is named, in 2024.
The concept’s return to the city will be Bottleneck’s first opening in Chicago since Howells & Hood opened in Tribune Tower in 2013. That restaurant, known for its massive list of beers on tap and outdoor seating on Pioneer Court, closed in 2018 as Tribune Tower’s owners began a redevelopment to convert the former home of the Chicago Tribune into residential condominiums and new retail.
Other bars owned or operated by Bottleneck include Sweetwater Tavern & Grill, just across the Chicago River from the former Howells & Hood space.
Bisaillon said a recent city pause on the planned phase-out of tipped wages helped with the decision to open another Chicago restaurant.
“We are looking at other opportunities, but it’s typically fully built-out restaurants,” he said. “It’s opportunistic.
“People are going to continue to be very cautious about going into the Central Loop. It’s going to take a great deal for both sides to make it work.”
For the record
The tenant and landlord were represented by Stone Real Estate brokers David Stone and Will Winter.