The Paris-based owner of 360 Chicago said it has bought the shuttered Signature Room restaurant space on the 95th and 96th floors of the former John Hancock Center directly above the observatory, where it does not plan to reopen an eatery.
Magnicity’s announcement late Friday means the end of dining in what had been one of the highest skyscraper restaurant spaces in the nation. The Signature Room abruptly shut down in September after three decades in business on Michigan Avenue.
The French operator of observation decks throughout the country said it plans to add a yet-to-be-determined attraction to 360 Chicago. The 94th-floor observatory already features 360-degree views of the city as well the Tilt thrill ride — which provides a look 1,030 feet straight down from a box that tilts 30 degrees toward the surrounding shopping and tourism district — and CloudBar, billed as the city’s highest cocktail lounge.
The statement did not say how much Magnicity paid for the Signature Room. The price was said to be more than $25 million, according to someone familiar with the deal.
The observatory company said the newly added space in Chicago’s fifth-tallest building is expected to open in 2026, and 360 Chicago’s operations will be unaffected by construction.
“We’re exploring a number of options for the space at this time,” 360 Chicago's Nichole Benolken said in a statement. “I can confirm that we’re not planning on reopening a restaurant in that space, but beyond that, our team is in the very early development stages, and we’ll have more information to share in the coming months.”
Attempts to find a new tenant or owner of the space were seen by local and national retail experts as a test of the popularity of high-altitude restaurants as dining habits evolve. In the decades since the Signature Room opened, many of the world’s highest-altitude restaurants have opened outside North America.
Plans for an expansion of 360 Chicago come after Manhattan’s largest office landlord, SL Green Realty, announced it wants to identify two non-U.S. sites to expand its popular Summit observatory concept globally.
Magnicity, then known as Montparnasse Group 56, has owned the Chicago observatory since 2012. That is the same year that New York-based Madison Capital and Newark, New Jersey-based PGIM bought the retail portion of the 100-story skyscraper for $141.5 million.
Retail at the base of the tower at 875 N. Michigan Ave. was not included in the sale to Magnicity.
The sellers did not respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
Magnicity also operates observatories in Paris, Berlin and Rotterdam, Netherlands. It plans to open an observation deck next year in Warsaw.
In Chicago, Magnicity competes with the Skydeck Chicago observatory near the top of the 110-story Willis Tower.
“360 Chicago has been an anchor on Michigan Avenue for more than a decade, and our purchase of these two floors represents our significant commitment to serve not only the people of Chicago but the millions of visitors who make the Magnificent Mile a must-visit destination every year,” Benolken said in the statement. “We’re already recognized at home and abroad as offering the pre-eminent observation deck in Chicago, and our investment in the building is also our investment in the success of the district and the city at large.”
Abrupt Closing
PGIM and Madison Capital put the two-floor, 26,168-square-foot Signature Room on the market for sale in March 2023. At the time, a Cushman & Wakefield brochure said the restaurant and Signature Lounge cocktail bar’s owner recently had signed a lease extension through the end of 2031.
Just a few months later, the Signature Room closed without warning, with a note hung at the restaurant and a message on the Infusion Management Group restaurant’s website citing an economic strain on the business from shutdowns early in the pandemic and other factors.
Opened in 1973, the Michigan Avenue tower was known as the John Hancock Center until 2018, after the namesake insurer stopped paying for naming rights. The property, one of Chicago's tallest buildings, is now known simply by its address.
Portions of the property, including the observatory, broadcast antennas, retail, offices and parking, were sold off in separate deals more than a decade ago. Residential condominiums also are separately owned.
For the Record
The sellers were represented by Cushman & Wakefield brokers Michael Marks and Evan Halkias.