OLD TOWN — Developers looking to build a boutique hotel on the site of O'Brien's Restaurant & Bar will pitch neighbors again next week.
The second community meeting held to discuss the proposed development is set for Jan. 25 at Franklin Fine Arts Center, 225 W. Evergreen St., beginning at 7 p.m. and ending no later than 9 p.m., according to the Old Town Merchants & Residents Association.
Condor Partners and Chicago Development Partners are seeking a zoning change to build an 18-story boutique hotel, offering between 188 - 200 rooms, with an average of 300 square feet of space each, for $250-300 per night.
The plans also call for a rooftop lounge, a patisserie, meeting spaces and a new white tablecloth restaurant. O'Briens, 1528 N. Wells St., which has called Old Town home for more than 30 years, would re-open in the hotel.
At the first community meeting in early December, most of the neighbors who attended disapproved of the design, saying the hotel would "destroy" the charm of quaint Old Town.
The few who spoke in favor the plans said it would bring more business to the area.
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), whose ward includes the development, did not offer his opinion, but reminded the audience that neighbors opposed Chicago Development Partners' condo building project at 1414 N. Wells St. at the time it was built, saying "sometimes you make sacrifices."
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