The property is adding 15,000 sq. ft. after purchasing a neighboring facility, and is adding three new restaurants, a cyber cafe, and outdoor dining with views of Millennium Park. The project is expected to be complete by Labor Day.
The University Club of Chicago is adding three new restaurants, including a cyber cafe and outdoor dining with panoramic views of Millennium Park, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
The additional 15,000 sq. ft. will transform the club, which was started in 1887. The $10 million-plus renovation, to be finished by Labor Day, is expanding into neighboring property. In 2004, longtime member Anthony Lapasso, an architect, sold his 30 S. Michigan Ave. property to the University Club. Now the club is connecting the seventh and eight floors of that building to its main property, the Sun Times reported.
The expansion includes a year-round casual restaurant, an intimate bar, two private dining rooms and a casual lounge with big-screen TVs and couches to watch sports, concerts or, even, political debates. In the daytime, the lounge will serve as a cyber cafe. The icing on the cake will be an outdoor terrace on the new roof of the 30 S. Michigan building, the Sun Times reported.
The new venues will have a modern feel while still keeping old-school touches like the high ceilings notable in the club’s Cathedral Hall, the Sun Times reported.
“We want to make sure it’s related to the club but isn’t exactly the same,” said Mark Baker, a longtime hospitality executive who is leading the renovation. He’s also the club’s chef.
In 2014, the nearby Chicago Club underwent its own renovation and added a rooftop terrace. And the Arts Club recently opened the Drawing Room cocktail lounge, the Sun Times reported.
“We’re seeing membership grow and millennials like the idea of private clubs,” Baker said.
While University Club of Chicago remains exclusive, men can walk in without ties and women, who got the OK to join in 1976, now account for 40% of membership, the Sun Times reported.
The club has about 2,100 members in the Chicago area and another 1,000 in other categories. Memberships start at $144 per month, the Sun Times reported.
University Club isn’t raising fees or charging an assessment for the expansion. The club, which operates as a nonprofit, has a $26 million budget, the Sun Times reported.
“Members are getting 15,000 sq. ft. of new facilities that everyone can use for no more than they’re paying today,” said Baker. “And that’s a great story.”
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