Rumored Sale of Hotel Chateau has Area Residents Buzzing

While representatives with East Lake View’sHotel Chateau are remaining tight-lipped regarding a potential transaction, multiple sources say a controversial local hotel has been sold to another owner.

This comes after the hotel’s most recent court date on Dec. 4 when a judge ordered management to address three problems within the building. However, according to Ald. James Cappleman’s (46th) office, there were more than just lawyers and concerned residents at that hearing.

Cappleman’s aid Dana Fritz says an interested buyer also attended. While he said Thursday that Cappleman’s office wasn't privy to news of an official sale, Fritz says the buyer wanted to make a deal, and they wanted to make it quickly.

“We haven’t heard anything yet, so we don’t know,” Fritz said. “But there was a prospective buyer at the last hearing … They were represented by attorneys, and they just said that they were interested in doing a sale quickly. We’re expecting to hear more about that during the Jan. 29th court date.”

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Fritz wasn’t able to say who the interested buyer was. But signs are now pointing toward the building being sold.

A woman under the pseudonym Chicago Gal on the community forum, EveryBlock, says she lives at Hotel Chateau received a rude awakening on New Year's Eve.

“I woke up this morning to find the heat is off, the phone to call the front desk is no longer in service, so I went to the lobby downstairs and talked with one of the workers, and was told this building has been sold,” she wrote. He didn't give me any (more) details …”

Calls to Hotel Chateau for details were met with the same disconnected phone line. And after walking into the building to talk with employees, front desk workers said they weren’t allowed to speak about the topic and “didn’t want to get involved.”

They then said they weren’t permitted to give away contact information for the building’s management company or the building’s owner, Jack Gore.

"...I went to the lobby downstairs and talked with one of the workers, and was told this building has been sold.”

Although local business owners were eager to talk about the rumors, they were hesitant to go on record.

The manager at Nearly New Bikes, a used bike store at 3826 N. Broadway Ave., says he’s lived in the area for 14 years and knows many of the residents at Hotel Chateau. The man, who declined to be named, says he's worried about where the people will live if evicted.

“I’m hearing the same thing from a lot of the residents, but I don’t have any paperwork in my hands yet,” he said. “… If (the new owners) make it better for the people, then I’m for it, but those people need somewhere to live. It just needs to be managed a whole lot better.”

Another man walking in and out of the hotel’s main entrance with electrical equipment on Thursday afternoon said he worked for a phone company. While he, too, was reluctant to identify himself—he only divulged his first name as "Adam"— he said he’s been in contact with the building’s new owners. He declined to give additional details.

Information on the Cook County Recorder of Deeds website was only updated through Dec. 17 on Wednesday, so any recent developments on the property changing hands weren't listed. And according to the Cook County Assessor’s Office, the 84-year-old building is sitting on 18,000 square feet of land. The total value of the land and building was assessed at slightly more than $200,000 in 2012, according to the records. That is not the market value, however.

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