OUT Chicago Hotel Developer Plays Defense with Neighbors

Lake View neighbors grilled the developer behind Boystown’s new OUT Chicago hotel Thursday, with the man behind the project saying he felt attacked.

Proposed for 3343 N. Halsted St., the 10-story hotel and resort is planned to take over Mark’s Chop Suey and collaborate with both Minibar and Sidetrack. But unlike the first community meeting, seemingly filled with supporters, Thursday night’s forum gathered residents and business owners split on the development.

Topics like crime, congestion and traffic took center stage for residents, and although many applauded Parkview Developers Partner Ian Reisner, many others seemed frustrated with the proposal.

Former Lake View Citizens’ Council President David Winner says he thinks drawing more people to North Halsted will only increase crime, and he wants to know what the community will receive for tolerating the new burden.

“The way I see it, it will only increase the congestion in the area, the drunkenness in the area, the public urination. Crime will increase, and I don’t care what you say,” Winner said. “… Brining in visitors will only increase this crime, so my question is, what are we getting as a community?”

"When you say, ‘What am I doing here?’ I feel like you’re attacking me. Would you like me not to bring a business here?"

Reisner said he doesn’t think bringing the OUT Chicago to Boystown will increase crime, but actually do just the opposite. With more visitors on the North Halsted and a 24-hour hotel with security, he says crime could decrease with more eyes on the street.

Along with hosting community events, adding art to Space Park on Roscoe Street and building a sorely needed hotel in Lake View, supporters chimed in to mention the estimated 80 jobs OUT could create in the community.

“Hotels are considered the epicenter of communities. They bring life and vibrancy,” Reisner said. “… So I feel like I’m bringing a resort to your community that will be a luxury, a benefit. … How about jobs? How about tax revenues? When you say, ‘What am I doing here?’ I feel like you’re attacking me. Would you like me not to bring a business here?”

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When asked by other residents why he couldn't move the hotel to a more conducive space like the Sherwin Williams lot or the across the street from the Center on Halsted, Reisner said he's inquired about nearly every viable property in Boystown. 

“(Howard Brown's Brown Elephant) and the club right next to it called Circuit—they’re owned by the same owner and his children, and they have zero appetite to sell,” he said. “To put an LGBT-focused hotel across from an LGBT community center would have been a win-win. There is no appetite or reasonable price for that to be sold. I tried very hard.”

Reisner said at the first community meeting in April that he hopes the new OUT hotel will cement Boystown as the epicenter for the LGBT community in Chicago.

Slated to be finished in 2015, the roughly 112-room hotel is at the preliminary stages of its long road toward approval. Developers are seeking to change the property’s zoning to construct the resort with 30 underground parking spaces, a process that needs a planned development with community input before moving forward.

Want more info about what the new hotel might include? Read all the details here on Patch, and even see a watch a 3D video of what it might look like.