January 27, 2017 – Stay open more of the year and make permanent changes to your space. City officials repeated its new philosophy to about 50 people who attended a pre-proposal meeting for prospective Chicago Riverwalk vendors at City Hall on Thursday morning.

With the city getting a percentage of sales, to pay back the federal loan that extended the Riverwalk west of State Street, “we want them to do well because then we do well,” said Riverwalk project manager Michelle Woods.

The city is looking for proposals that “enhance the Riverwalk experience” and make money. Feedback from vendors – and would-be vendors who expressed interest but did not submit a proposal – convinced the city that new vendors will want to invest in improvements to their part of the Riverwalk if they have a longer lease and more time to recover the cost.

The Riverwalk now stretches 1.25 miles from Lake Shore Drive on the main branch of the Chicago River to Lake Street on the south branch. Available vendor spaces, however, go as far as Franklin Street.

(Above) The city has divided the Riverwalk into “districts,” from the Esplanade District west of Lake Shore Drive to Confluence District east of Lake Street.

After collectively grossing more than $8.5 million, most vendors from last year will be back this year but the city is not sentimental and former Riverwalk vendors are not guaranteed new contracts.

“It’s a clean slate,” said Woods. “Certainly, people have experience having been on the Riverwalk in the past but we anticipate there are other vendors that have other types of experience that would also be beneficial to the City of Chicago.”

(Left) Woods (far left), project manager for the city’s Department of Fleet and Facility Management (“2FM” for short) with Pamela Harris, also of 2FM, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel on May 22, 2015.

Woods says the city wants the Riverwalk to be “very family-friendly” and more than taverns. Year-round operation is preferred but, says Woods, “we understand that being down there when it’s cold and the river’s frozen doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

No word yet on private Riverwalk operator

For now, the city is continuing as the Riverwalk’s “master operator,” though not giving up on its two-and-a-half-year search for a private company to manage day-to-day operations.

“Let’s see how this turns out,” said Woods. “We got our feet wet over these past couple of years. The experience that we’ve learned, we’re getting better and better at it. We’ll see what sort of response we get from this. I’m encouraged by the response.”

(Above) Riverwalk space available for development includes this 7,813-square-foot area west of Wabash Avenue, next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, that the city imagines as a restaurant or café. The area could someday be connected by elevator to Wabash above. The city has built housing for an elevator but it would be up to a vendor to install the actual elevator.

Proposals, due by 4 p.m. on March 9, will be reviewed by a committee comprised of city personnel who specialize in areas of finance, cultural affairs, construction, and operations, and are familiar with the Riverwalk.