Ballyhoo Hospitality, the restaurant group behind several well-known restaurants in Chicagoland, is opening a new unnamed restaurant in Glenview, located at 1739 Glenview Rd.
When the Glenview village trustees met to approve the purchase-and-sale of the south 1700 block of Glenview Road, they did not expect so many people to show up. After trustees approved the resolution, many people in the room responded with a standing ovation, according to the Daily Herald. That’s because the highly successful Ballyhoo Hospitality, which owns Gemini Chicago, Coda di Volpe, Old Pueblo Cantina, Sophia Steak, and many other local restaurants, was approved to open a new 6,000-square-foot restaurant.
“This is a unique opportunity to place Glenview on the map as an emerging North Shore community focused on expanding our downtown business district, promoting overall economic growth, and satisfying our appetite — pun intended — for new restaurant developments,” said Glenview Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Meghan Kearney.
The standing ovation resulted from an impressive presentation, which included ten public speakers’ comments, which were also applauded. Some of the republic speakers include Glenview Public Library Director Lindsey Dorfman, former village Commissioner Allan Ruter, Chicago restaurateur and Glenview resident Nick Moretti, and Geraldine Brown from the Friends of Downtown Glenview. After many positive responses to the presentation, the village trustees unanimously approved of the agreement.
The village agreed to sell the land for $210,000 while also providing a grant of $1.75 million and a loan of $2.25 million over 15 years at 2% interest. Glenview will likely see a return on investment in 14 years and take in more than $411,000 by the end of the agreement period, based on interest on the loan and assumed tax revenues. Trustee Chuck Gitles expressed his concerns regarding the length of the loan and a 10-year guarantee that the restaurant will operate at that location.
“The sooner you repay the loan, the sooner we can redeploy the money to redevelop other parts of Glenview, including the rest of the downtown. And improving the rest of downtown will not just help Glenview, it’ll help you guys,” Gitles said.
