Chicago salon owner developing a mixed-use boutique hotel project "Lincoln Yards"
Hi BP community,
I'm Whitney, a Chicago-based business owner and first-time commercial developer.
I've spent the last 8 years as a hairstylist and salon owner, currently operating Cutting Club Chicago across two locations in River North and Avondale. Building and running a service business across two leases has meant living inside occupancy costs, lease negotiations, pricing models, and cash flow everyday. My operator experience is the foundation for what I'm working on now.
I'm currently developing Logandale Collective, a mixed-use boutique hospitality project targeting an adaptive reuse property in Chicago's Elston Corridor, previously known as Lincoln Yards. The concept brings together a café/bar, a flexible event space designed for micro-weddings and private events, an 8-11 room bed & breakfast under Chicago's owner-occupancy license, and my existing salon business relocated on-site, with me living at and operating the property myself. It's an owner-operated hospitality property anchored by an established business, not a passive asset.
The project is in active development: entity formed, detailed pro forma built across all revenue verticals, specific properties evaluated, and direct engagement underway with the City of Chicago's Department of Planning and Development on TIF-district grant programs.
The design vision is warm, vintage, and European-eclectic, dark wood, amber light, checkered floors, inspired by the boutique hospitality groups doing this well in Chicago.
I'm here to learn from people with experience in hospitality real estate, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use development, and I'm always happy to trade notes on navigating Chicago's commercial development grant and TIF programs, I've gone deep on that process.
For those who've done adaptive reuse or hospitality in Chicago, what do you wish you'd known before your first commercial project?