CHICAGO, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes
Corporation® (NYSE: HHC) and Riverside Investment and Development
announced today that José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup, together
with Chicago's own Gibsons
Restaurant Group, has signed a 17,200-square-foot lease at 110
North Wacker Drive, the new trophy-class office tower in downtown
Chicago. The group will be opening
a veritable dining destination with multiple concepts, including a
fine dining restaurant and an elevated cocktail bar experience, as
well as providing catering for the building's 10,000-square-foot
event space.
This joint venture represents an unprecedented pairing of
Gibsons Restaurant Group's Lombardo family with the two-Michelin
star Chef Andrés, combining the culinary ingenuity of his
ThinkFoodGroup with the local operational expertise of the Gibsons
team.
"We are thrilled to partner with José Andrés, his
ThinkFoodGroup, and the Gibsons Restaurant Group as we continue to
set a new standard for development and see overwhelming market and
tenant demand at 110 North Wacker Drive," said Paul Layne, CEO of The Howard Hughes
Corporation. "The Gibsons team has been setting the standard for
steakhouses in Chicago for decades
and José Andrés is an award-winning chef as well as an
incredible humanitarian—together the team will bring an array of
exceptional new culinary experiences to one of the best cities for
food in the country."
"The Chicago food scene is one
of the best in the world, and we are excited to partner with the
Lombardo family and Gibsons group, especially in this great new
destination in the heart of the city," said Andrés.
Today's tenants consider restaurants to be among the most
important amenities and the joint venture will offer a full range
of options designed to exceed the expectations of everyone that
walks through the door of 110 North Wacker Drive. From café and
coffee to cocktails, fine dining and catering, all culinary
experiences will be available.
"From the initial concepts, we saw this partnership not only as
a signature restaurant opportunity, but as an exciting and dynamic
food and beverage solution for the building," added Jim McCaffrey, Senior Vice President of
Development for The Howard Hughes Corporation. "Each of the new
venues—our restaurants and our 400-person event space—are designed
as soaring spaces with river views, floor to ceiling windows,
operable walls for indoor-outdoor space and connectivity to our
boat dock on the Chicago River."
"The opportunity to partner with Chef José Andrés and
ThinkFoodGroup in our home city in a sensational new building on
the river is exciting, and we think it's a natural, complementary
partnership that will result in fantastic new dining experiences
for Chicagoans," said Steve Lombardo
of Gibsons Restaurant Group.
John O'Donnell, CEO of Riverside
Investment and Development added, "We are committed to
delivering first-class buildings that are efficient,
technologically advanced and designed to enhance the tenant
experience. José Andrés and Gibsons are a best-in-class team
and will certainly further these efforts."
Situated along the Chicago River, 110 North Wacker Drive is
both the city's tallest office building and the second largest
office building to be delivered in three decades. The new
restaurants and event space, together with the state-of-the-art
fitness facilities, concierge program and other amenities, will
create an unparalleled tenant experience. The highly anticipated,
1.5-million-square-foot trophy-class tower situated along the
Chicago River in the West Loop is now 74 percent preleased and
scheduled to open in October of 2020. Anchor tenants include Bank
of America, Jones Day, Perkins Coie, Morgan
Lewis, Lincoln International, No.18 and King & Spalding.
John Vance of Stone Real Estate
represented the developers of the Class-A+ building.
Additional project and leasing information for the
1.5-million-square-foot tower, a collaboration led by The Howard
Hughes Corporation and Riverside Investment and Development—along
with the award-winning teams of Goettsch Partners for design, Clark
Construction, and CBRE—is available at
www.110NorthWacker.com.
About The Howard Hughes Corporation®
The Howard
Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial,
residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its
award-winning assets include the country's preeminent portfolio of
master planned communities, as well as operating properties and
development opportunities including: the Seaport District in
New York; Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands®, The
Woodlands Hills®, and Bridgeland® in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin®,
Las Vegas; and Ward Village® in
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The Howard
Hughes Corporation's portfolio is strategically positioned to meet
and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one
of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to
innovative placemaking, the company is recognized for its ongoing
commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its
communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New
York Stock Exchange as HHC. For additional information visit
www.howardhughes.com.
About ThinkFoodGroup and José Andrés
Founded by Chef
José Andrés and his partner Rob
Wilder, ThinkFoodGroup is the creative team responsible for
renowned dining concepts in Washington,
D.C., Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, Miami, the Bahamas, and most recently in Orlando and New York
City. The nearly three dozen restaurants share a variety of
culinary experiences that span from food trucks to world-class
tasting menus, including two with two Michelin stars: minibar by
José Andrés in Washington, D.C.,
and Somni at the SLS Beverly Hills.
Twice named one of Time's "100 Most Influential
People," and awarded "Outstanding Chef" and "Humanitarian of
the Year" by the James Beard Foundation as well as the
inaugural "American Express Icon Award" by the World's 50 Best
Restaurants, José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary
innovator, New York Times
bestselling author, educator, television personality, humanitarian,
and chef and owner of ThinkFoodGroup. For more information,
visit www.thinkfoodgroup.com.
About Gibsons Restaurant Group
Gibsons Restaurant
Group (GRG) began in 1989 with the founding of Chicago's iconic Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse
on Rush Street by Steve Lombardo and
Hugo Ralli. With the core philosophy
of providing the best hospitality, quality and value to its
customers, Gibsons quickly became one of the top restaurants in
Chicago. Today, GRG operates 14
locations in 4 states and 9 distinguished concepts, including
Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House,
LUXBAR, Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar, Gibsons Italia and The
BOATHOUSE. Seven GRG restaurants are in the top 100
highest-grossing in the United
States, according to Restaurant
Business Magazine. In addition, GRG manages premier
independent restaurants including RL Restaurant in Chicago on behalf of Ralph Lauren, ChiSox Bar & Grill on behalf
of the Chicago White Sox and Hugo's Frog Bar & Chop House on
behalf of Rivers Casino and SugarHouse
Casino.
About Riverside Investment and Development
Riverside
Investment and Development Company is a multi-faceted real estate
firm based out of Chicago,
Illinois. Founded in 2010 by John
O'Donnell, a longtime Chicago real estate veteran with more than 30
years and 40 million square feet of investment, development, and
redevelopment experience, Riverside is focused on the pursuit of complex
development and redevelopment opportunities. We aggressively manage
risk via detailed front-end evaluation and planning, selective
locational focus, and a willingness to form strategic relationships
where appropriate for a particular transaction. Our relationships,
which have been carefully cultivated over years of experience with
local and national consultants, brokers, and other stakeholders.
For additional information, visit www.RiversideID.com.
Media Contacts
Reputation Partners
Brendan Griffith, 414-376-3059
brendan@reputationpartners.com
The Howard Hughes Corporation
Cristina Carlson, 646-822-6910
VP, Corporate Communications and Public Relations
cristina.carlson@howardhughes.com
The Howard Hughes Corporation Investor Relations
David O'Reilly, 214-741-7744
Chief Financial Officer
david.o'reilly@howardhughes.com
Riverside Investment & Development
Katie Neuman, 312-788-1801
kneuman@riversideid.com
Gibsons Restaurant Group and ThinkFoodGroup
Tammy Walker, 646-339-1267
tammy@beccapr.com
Leasing Contacts
Riverside Investment and Development
Drew Nieman, 312-788-1804
dnieman@riversideid.com
CBRE
Sara Spicklemire,
312-861-7864
sara.spicklemire@cbre.com
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SOURCE The Howard Hughes Corporation