Fast food restaurant at Marina City to open soon

(Above) A long-vacant space at the base of the west tower at Marina City is being transformed into a Subway fast food restaurant that will open this month. (Click on image to view larger version.)

May 4, 2010 – May 19 at the earliest is when Subway Store Number 48735 will open at Marina City. A building permit was approved on March 26 and received on April 7.

Much of the work has been to connect plumbing and utilities to the space, which has not been used since 1988, when it was a Dollar Rent-A-Car location.

“There was nothing here, so we had to add two bathrooms, all the mechanical, all the heating and air conditioning,” said the franchisee, William Torchia, on Monday. “It’s all brand new here.”

Torchia, president and CEO of Fifth Day Restaurants, LLC, of Peoria, has built more than 50 Subway restaurants over the past 20 years, but this will be his first in Chicago.

Besides electricity and gas, water and sewer pipes had to be brought to the space at the base of the west tower at Marina City. Fortunately, the same plumbers who worked on Dick’s Last Resort, directly below the space, were available for the Subway project.

“The plumbing was very, very extensive,” says Torchia. “There are no walls, everything is just wide open.”

Residents concerned about safety

People who live at Marina City, particularly in the west tower, have noticed that an entrance to the restaurant is just a few feet from an entrance for use by residents. Torchia, however, does not think security will be a problem.

“It’s just going to be the normal Chicago people that will be coming in. The people from the office buildings, the people from upstairs. I don’t think there’s going to be an issue with security, but if there is then we’ll address it at that time.”

(Above) Left to right: Val Krynski of Val Krynski Quality Construction, the general contractor; William Torchia, president and CEO of Fifth Day Restaurants, LLC, the franchisee; and project manager Mike Kaminski. (Click on image to view larger version.)