Latest news with #WillisTower
Eater
22-07-2025
- Business
- Eater
Goose Island Spices Up 2025 Bourbon County Stout Lineup With Cherries and Cognac
Goose Island has announced its 2025 Bourbon County Brand Stout lineup, which has been a big event for beer lovers. But has the release lost steam? Goose and AB InBev hope not, and this year's release consists of five variants and the base original. Inspired by the flambéed dessert, Cherries Jubilee Stout is finished in cognac casks, resulting in flavors of candied dark cherry, soft vanilla, and caramelized citrus. Chocolate Praline Stout is aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels and tastes of fudge with marzipan and toffee, while Proprietor's Stout embraces the flavors of baklava. Goose Island's Double Barrel Stout, always a coveted release, returns. This time it's aged in two sets of Heaven Hill Distillery Bottled-in-Bond bourbon barrels. Reserve Stout is also back, and the 2025 release is rested for two years in Parker's Heritage Collection 17th edition rye whiskey barrels, drawing out the concentrated layers of dried fruit, cocoa, spice, and toasted oak. The Original Stout — credited as the first aged in bourbon barrels when it was brewed in 1992 — has an average aging time of 12 months and offers notes of fudge, vanilla, and caramelized sugar. This year, customers will be able to purchase Original Stout four-packs of 10-ounce bottles. All of Goose Island's 2025 Bourbon County Stouts will go on sale on Black Friday, which falls on November 28. Willis Tower expands food lineup with Chicago's first Van Leeuwen Willis Tower will get several new dining options this year, including the first Midwest location of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. The New York-based scoop shop will join Catalog, the multi-level food and retail space inside the iconic skyscraper. According to the company, more Van Leeuwen outposts are planned for Chicago as well — signage is already up at Wicker Park's Six Corner intersection on Damen next to Foxtrot. Also coming to Willis Tower is Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant Cava, which first arrived in Wicker Park last year, and Mendocino Farms, a California-based sandwich chain that will make its Chicago debut in River North in August. A pair of new endless brunches arrive Brunch-goers have two new all-you-can-eat options to add to their lists. Japanese gastropub TenGoku Aburiya is featuring a buffet spread of nigiri, maki rolls, meat and veggie skewers, stir-fried yakisoba noodles, Korean popcorn chicken, and more. It's offered Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for $45 per person. TenGoku is also collaborating with Kanin on a lunch bento box featuring coffee-rubbed kalbi. The special goes through Friday, July 25. Meanwhile, Asian restaurant and nightclub Tao Chicago has also rolled out a new endless brunch. Diners can enjoy a carving station serving pork belly and Peking duck, an omelet station, dim sum bites, sushi, raw bar selections, a chocolate fountain, and other pan-Asian dishes. Brunch is offered Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for $65 per person, with the option to add bottomless mimosas for $35 per person. BLVD's Joe Flamm and DanDan's Dan Jacobs collaborate to help Milwaukee restaurant Milwaukee chef Dan Jacobs is coming to town and teaming up with Joe Flamm for a special six-course tasting menu at BLVD Steakhouse on Monday, August 5. Jacobs, a Top Chef runner-up and six-time James Beard semi-finalist, is behind popular Cream City spots DanDan and EsterEv, the latter of which is currently closed due to flood damage. Proceeds from the dinner will go to support EsterEv staff as they work to recover. The experience is $120 per person, not inclusive of tax and gratuity, and reservations are available via OpenTable. Forget the Switch 2, Tortello has the hottest new handheld Wicker Park pasta palace Tortello is introducing pizza fritta to its menu. Inspired by a trip to Italy and memories of his childhood, owner Dario Monni has brought the traditional Neapolitan street food to Wicker Park. The light and fluffy handheld snack is made with fried pizza dough, burrata from Puglia, diced heirloom tomatoes, a drizzle of Sicilian olive oil, and basil. It will be offered during lunch and dinner starting Friday, July 25.
Bloomberg
30-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds
The 12-story building at 300 West Adams Street is typical of the terra-cotta-clad office towers that rose in downtown Chicago during the 1920s. Heavily ornamented with Gothic Revival details and brass decorative elements, it's across the street from the city's tallest skyscraper, the freshly renovated Willis (née Sears) Tower, and a few blocks from the elevated train tracks that define the city's central business district, known as the Loop. It sold for $51 million in 2012. But when it went up for auction at the end of 2023, the historically landmarked building, half-vacant, sold for a mere $4 million, a 89% drop. The plummeting value of 300 West Adams is just one example of the deep discounts in Chicago's office real estate market, where a quarter of the business district sat vacant in the first quarter of 2025. The pandemic-fueled explosion of remote work blasted enduring holes in the hearts of cities across the US: Nationwide, downtown vacancy rates sat at 19% in April. A third of central Portland's office space remains unoccupied; the Oregon city's second-tallest skyscraper, the 42-story former US Bancorp Tower, is more than half empty and on sale for $70 million, a precipitous drop from the $373 million earned the last time it changed hands.
Chicago Tribune
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Edward Keegan: NASCAR has embraced the Chicago backdrop, but will it return?
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race. If it sounds a bit edgy, that's certainly by design. And the race has had its challenges. First it was the smoky haze of Canadian wildfires. Then it was rain. And finally, it was the darkness of nightfall. And that was just the inaugural race in 2023. Oh, and the noise and the street closures that lasted for weeks before and after the race. And most folks who live in the immediate vicinity of the Grant Park racecourse were not NASCAR fans before the race and probably aren't now either. Like architecture, much of the appeal of motorsports is aesthetic. The cars are sleek, or at least as sleek as purpose-built vehicles molded to resemble Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and Toyota Camrys can be. And they are as bright and colorful as each sponsor is willing. And the speed and the sound add to the spectacle. With each of these elements, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race is an exceptionally well-conceived and packaged design mirror of ourselves. Chicago's history with auto racing stretches back to the earliest automobile race held in the United States on Thanksgiving Day in 1895. Fun fact: The Jackson Park to Evanston course traversed Michigan Avenue and included two blocks that are part of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race course. Nearby Soldier Field hosted races from 1935 to 1970, including NASCAR in 1956 and 1957. More recently, the now-defunct Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero fielded IndyCars and some of NASCAR's minor league series from 1999 to 2002, and both major series have raced at Joliet's Chicagoland Speedway, which is now owned by NASCAR. But what these races lacked was the Chicago backdrop to the racing — something NASCAR has completely embraced during the last three years. Because what's most important is how it looks on TV. Almost every sporting event held in the city, whether it's at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, Rate Field or the United Center, will show Grant Park and the Loop from a helicopter-mounted camera sometime during the event. But holding NASCAR's race in the park allows them to spotlight the city in a very particular way. Chicago's image is no longer just Willis Tower and the building formerly known as John Hancock Center. Newer tall buildings, including Trump Tower and the St. Regis, are more dominant from NASCAR's Grant Park perch. The Michigan Avenue street wall, long the classic Chicago skyline scene, has been extended in recent years by new development south of Ida B. Wells Drive including Helmut Jahn's striking 1000M, Krueck + Sexton's folded glass-faced Spertus Institute and Rafael Viñoly's distinctive, if mediocre, NEMA. And there are the older buildings along Michigan Avenue as well: Adler & Sullivan's Auditorium Building, Solon Beman's Fine Arts Building, Burnham and Root's Railway Exchange Building, and John Moutoussamy's Johnson Publishing Co. building, to name just a few. NASCAR and the Chicago Street Race highlight all of these distinctive — and very Chicago — buildings in a way that will endure. The best-known street course in the world has been in use for almost a century: the Grand Prix of Monaco in Monte Carlo. That enclave of wealth on the Mediterranean certainly doesn't need the grand prix in much the same way that Chicago doesn't need the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. But it's interesting to consider them together. The backdrop in Monaco includes the Belle Epoque Casino, the Mediterranean harbor, small shop fronts for luxury good purveyors and concrete cliffs filled with the pied-à-terre of the uber-rich. The NASCAR Chicago Street Race's background is, let's say, different. But it's just as compelling. And while Formula 1's multimillion-dollar bespoke cars reflect Monaco's place in the world economy, NASCAR's 'stock' cars are probably the best expression of Chicago. A bit brash, a bit ordinary, a lot noisy and prone to wrecks. Monaco is so good at its build that traffic navigates the racecourse within hours of on-track activity each day of the race weekend. It's too early to expect that here, but the build-out of the track and its support structures has become shorter with each year, reflecting NASCAR's efficiency and learning from experience. Finally, there's the racing itself. I had my doubts about how NASCAR's full body cars would race on this layout. But even with dreadful weather both years, it's proved to be a very entertaining track. The wide straightaways along Columbus and DuSable Lake Shore drives promote good side-by-side action and passing. Although the two one-block-long stretches on Michigan Avenue are good for photography, they are far too narrow to be either challenging or conducive to racing. But while the portion of track between them, the semicircular stretch through Congress Plaza, doesn't promote much passing, it is a great place to see up close how difficult these cars are to drive. The change in elevation — up and then down — while navigating a broad left turn really gets these cars to the edge of control, and it's quite entertaining to watch them skate through this section. And unlike the open wheel cars of IndyCar and Formula 1, not every contact between cars is likely to slow the race with a full-course yellow flag. Stock cars can often take some bumping and continue on without major incident. And it's proved to be a safe track as well. It will not be surprising if NASCAR announces in the coming days that it won't be back in Chicago next year. The initial contract runs its course with next week's race, although there are options for two additional years if NASCAR and the city agree to continue. The sanctioning body has let several other nontraditional races lapse after just a few years, and they're reportedly in talks with San Diego about a street race for 2026. Presumably there would be a lot less grit involved, but probably a lot better weather in store. Edward Keegan writes, broadcasts and teaches on architectural subjects. Keegan's biweekly architecture column is supported by a grant from former Tribune critic Blair Kamin, as administered by the not-for-profit Journalism Funding Partners. The Tribune maintains editorial control over assignments and content.
Business Journals
11-06-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Cava, Van Leeuwen, Mendocino Farms to join Willis Tower food-hall tenant lineup
Story Highlights Willis Tower's Catalog food hall adds three new restaurants to its lineup. Mendocino Farms and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream will make their debut in the Chicago market. Willis Tower's appraised value has declined to $1.03 billion. Several new restaurants will be moving into the Willis Tower later this year, adding to the offerings at one of downtown's premier food halls. Catalog at Willis Tower — a 300,000 square-foot, five-story dining, retail and entertainment offering that opened at the base of the tower in 2022 — will be adding three eateries to its lineup. Cava, a Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant, signed the largest of the three recent leases. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events 'When we designed Catalog, our intention was to curate an array of offerings unique to the Loop neighborhood,' said Morgan Monroe, vice president of leasing for Perform Properties, in a statement. Perform, a Blackstone Inc. company, handles leasing and management for Willis Tower, which is owned by Blackstone. Cava, which will occupy 3,156 square feet at Chicago's tallest tower, is expected to open in late 2025. Elsewhere in Chicago, the fast-casual restaurant has a location in Wicker Park. The two other eateries — Mendocino Farms and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream — are making their debut in the Chicago market with the Willis Tower leases. "Breaking into the Midwest with Chicago as our first stop just feels right," said Ben Van Leeuwen, CEO and co-founder of Van Leeuwen, in a statement. The New York City ice cream parlor's first Chicago scoop shop will be a 1,712-square-foot space at Catalog, and it's expected to open later this summer. Mendocino Farms, a California-based sandwich and salad restaurant, will likewise be making its introduction to Chicago with its 3,012-square-foot space, which is expected to open in October. Mendocino Farms' technology at its first Chicago outfit will include its first kiosk-supported concept, providing a stop-and-go option for downtown workers. Still struggling compared to most other major U.S. cities, foot traffic at Chicago office buildings was down 44.3% in April 2025 compared to April 2019. Office landlords have been looking for new ways to bring tenants back, including through amenity offerings like retail and restaurants. A recent appraisal of Willis Tower found the value of the iconic tower has substantially declined. Its new appraised value of $1.03 billion, according to Morningstar, is a 42% drop from the tower's last appraisal in 2018, when it was appraised at $1.78 billion during a loan refinancing. Blackstone paid $1.3 billion for Willis Tower in 2015. In 2022, Blackstone completed a $500 million investment at Willis Tower, which included the addition of Catalog. Sign up for the Business Journal's free daily newsletter to receive the latest business news impacting Chicago.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cryptids of Illinois: A guide to the Prairie State's most famous creepy creatures
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois may be famous for its deep dish pizza, Cheap Trick, the Willis Tower, and the sock monkey, but the Prairie State is also a hotbed for sightings of cryptozoological creatures that lurk at the fringes of reality. According to Samantha Hochmann, the executive director of Tinker Swiss Cottage, which hosts its own paranormal tours, there have been multiple sightings of a large, winged humanoid creature known as the 'Mothman' in the Rockford area. The Mothman is supposedly a harbinger of impending doom. In fact, the Rockford Mothman was a subject of . The most famous Mothman incident took place in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1967, heralding the collapse of the Silver Bridge suspension bridge which killed 46 people. According to lore, the Mothman was spotted on the bridge before the collapse. The event was dramatized in the movie '.' According to the Netflix special, the Mothman was spotted in Rockford in June 2022. Are there werewolves in northern Illinois? While the wolves have not been living in the state since 1860, there have been reported sightings of a 'massive wolflike creature' spotted 'standing upright' in 2010. of the elusive beast have been reported since. Witnesses have described seeing a wolfen creature with glowing red eyes and a humanoid shape that attacks vehicles, similar to Wisconsin's legend of the Beast of Bray Road or Michigan's Dogman. The Big Muddy Monster is Illinois' Bigfoot, its legend originating in Southern Illinois around the Big Muddy River in Murphysboro. Originally reported in 1973, the town of Murphysboro from the original sighting on its website. On June 25 and 26, 1973, police received reports of a tall, loud, white-haired and mud-caked creature appearing on the outskirts of town. In the June 25th event, a couple parked near a boat dock heard a loud screaming sound in the woods and saw a 'large creature approximately 7 feet tall. The creature appeared to have light-colored hair matted with mud. The creature appeared to be walking on two legs and was proceeding toward his car.' Authorities said they found tracks in the mud, 10-12 inches long and 3 inches wide. Officers also claimed to have heard another scream coming from the woods during their canvas of the area. On June 26th, neighbors in the Westwood Hills subdivision all claimed they saw a similar creature in a nearby field, described as a 7-8 foot tall creature, weighing 300-350 lbs, with pale dirty white or cream colored hair, standing on two feet. Another sighting came on July 7th, when carnival workers claimed a similar creature was disturbing the show ponies. According to The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, Illinois ranks A described as a three-legged creature, with a short body, short arms, and two pink eyes 'as big as flashlights' terrorized residents of the town of Enfield in 1973. A man named Henry McDaniel reported being surprised by the creature at his house when he investigated scratching sounds at his front door. McDaniel said he shot the creature, which ran away at a speed covering 50 feet in three jumps. Authorities later found footprints of a six-toed creature on his property. He later reported seeing the creature again, two weeks later, near local railroad tracks. This second sighting was first featured on the WWKI radio station and then covered by outlets such as WGN and the Chicago Daily News. In 1978, researchers from Western Illinois University investigated the incident and published a case study, in which they determined that the subsequent sightings of the Enfield Horror were attributed to a social contagion or mass hysteria. In East Peoria, there lurks a legend of a Bigfoot-like creature known as the Cole Hollow Monster. The creature was first spotted in 1972 by Randall Emert, 18, who spotted the creature near Cole Hollow Road near Pekin. Emert described seeing a being described as white, hairy, and standing 12 feet tall. Police reported receiving more than 200 calls from witnesses who claimed to have seen the creature in May of that year, walking through the woods and through yards. According to legend, the monster used abandoned coal mines to sneak through the area. After Emert told a local radio station of his encounter, hundreds of people were drawn to the area to see if they could get a sighting of the creature. According to , Emert later confessed that he had made the whole thing up. That hasn't stopped people from trying to search for the creature over the years. One of Illinois' dates back to 1673, when two French explorers, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet were traveling down the Mississippi River, near what is now Alton, Illinois, where they saw a Native American painting on the rocks. The image depicted a dragon-like creature with the body of a serpent and the head of a man. The Illini tribe called the monster 'Piasa,' or 'the bird that devours men.' According to legend, the creature would swoop down from the skies and carry off terrified villagers until a chief named Outatoga and his warriors went out in search of the creature, ambushing it near its layer and killing it with poisoned arrows as it flew out in search of its next meal. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
