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Siblings Bar Pours Last Drink, Building to be Sold, Owner Says

 Howard Street dive bar Siblings closed for good early May 21 after growing pressure from aldermen and police.
Siblings Bar Closes
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WEST ROGERS PARK — As neighborhood dive Siblings poured its last drink early Tuesday, the building's owners worked on plans to sell the building.

Siblings had come under pressure from both Chicago's alderman, Evanston's nearby alderman and the cities' police forces after neighbors complained about violence, noise and other unseemly behavior emanating from the bar.

"There was a guy in there on a lease, and we had a lot of complaints — we had to go to building court for some ungodly reason," said Michael Jettner Sr., a real estate broker whose son owns the building.

The bar had been shut down for about a week in January after city building inspectors found problems with electrical wiring at the bar.

Jettner added that the bar's tenant, Sunil Mosa, had been eight months behind on rent, to the tune of $30,000.

"I think he just left the place to go to hell," he said.

Jettner said he had sold the building in 2003 to his son, Michael Jettner Jr., who renamed the bar Siblings from its original name, Captain's Deck.

Jettner Jr. said when reached by phone Tuesday that he had sold the bar to Mosa, but kept the real estate. Now that Siblings has closed, however, he plans to sell.

He said neighbors were fair in their criticism of the bar's operations, but that his only concern was with the real estate.

“The owner’s not present," he said of Mosa. "And that’s what happens.”

The elder Jettner said he'd put the bar on the market after he collects the keys from Mosa.

"We’re trying to get him out of there and trying to get someone from the community in there," he said.

Chris Tobin, the former bar manager at Siblings, said Mosa didn't want to talk about the bar's closure.

"He just wants to go on, move on," he said.