Chicago’s Signature Room has closed after three decades in rare air as one of the highest-elevation skyscraper restaurants in the country and one of the city’s highest-profile restaurants.
The owners of the 95th-floor restaurant in the former John Hancock Center announced Thursday that the shutdown was effective immediately. In a note hung at the North Michigan Avenue restaurant and another message on the Signature Room website, owners Rick Roman and Nick Pyknis said the effects of COVID-19, “severe economic hardship” and other challenges led to the closing.
The Signature Room’s exit ends a long run as a popular tourist destination along the northern end of the Magnificent Mile shopping district as well as an event space for wedding parties and other large gatherings on special occasions, with views overlooking Lake Michigan and the city’s skyline. The Signature Room opened in July 1993, according to its website.
“For over 30 years, we have had the privilege and honor of serving Chicagoans and visitors from all over the world,” the website message said. “Together, we’ve marked countless life moments — from heartwarming engagements to milestone anniversaries.”
The closing adds to record-high vacancy on the Mag Mile, historically one of the country’s top shopping avenues, after defections of several major tenants in recent years in the wake of the pandemic and amid other challenges, including perceptions of violence in Chicago.
It also comes just a few months after owners of retail portions of the 100-story skyscraper, New York-based Madison Capital and New Jersey-based PGIM Real Estate, put the Signature Room space on the market for sale.
At the time, according to marketing materials from Cushman & Wakefield, the restaurant’s owner — Infusion Management Group, led by Roman and Pyknis — had recently signed a 10-year lease extension for the restaurant space on the 95th floor and the Signature Lounge cocktail bar on the 96th floor. The total area of those spaces is 26,168 square feet.
The recent extension seemed to indicate long-term plans to stay in business, and the Cushman & Wakefield materials describe annual sales putting the Signature Room among the top 10 highest-grossing restaurants in Chicago. The space also recently received a $1.5 million capital investment, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
But in the online statement, the restaurant owners mentioned ongoing challenges to the business, including the lingering effects of shutdowns early in the pandemic.
“These factors, beyond our control, have left us with no choice but to close our doors,” the message said. “Though this chapter ends, our gratitude for your unwavering support remains steadfast. Every meal served, every toast raised, and every memory made was possible because of you. We are eternally grateful for the trust you placed in us to be part of your special memories.”
The restaurant owners did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
The closure was first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business.
“For over 20 years, The Signature Room has thrived as an iconic establishment in Chicago and stands as one of the top-grossing restaurants nationwide,” John Clote, a senior vice president at Madison Capital, said in an email to CoStar News. “Chicago boasts some of the nation's finest, and most innovative, dining experiences and this presents a very unique and exciting opportunity for the next operator.”
Mag Mile Changes
It's unclear whether Madison Capital and PGIM, which paid $141.5 million for the retail space in 2012, still plan to try to sell the upper floors after losing the tenant.
Those firms also own retail space at the base of the tower, which was not part of the sale offering.
The building was known as the John Hancock Center until 2018, after the namesake insurance company stopped paying for naming rights. The 1970s skyscraper is now known by its address, 875 N. Michigan Ave.
Other portions of the 1,128-foot-tall tower, including office space, residential condominiums, broadcast antennas and an observatory, are owned separately.
As the Mag Mile loses one high-profile, long-time tenant, industry professionals are watching to see how two local investors, Saxony Capital and Farpoint Development, will fare with their planned purchase of a large, vacant retail building at 830 N. Michigan Ave. for about $40 million.
At just over $340, it is the lowest price per square foot for a Mag Mile retail building since 1997, according to CoStar data.
That investment, albeit at a historically low amount, offers a sign of progress on the street where the success of upcoming store openings by Aritzia in a former Gap flagship store and Alo Yoga in part of a former Disney Store also are viewed by observers as key indicators of the avenue’s health.
The Signature Room’s closure comes after another soaring restaurant space, Cité on the 70th floor of Lake Point Tower near Navy Pier, shut down last year.