June 26, 2012 – Work has started at Marina City on an upscale restaurant in the works for more than a year. Tortoise Club may be aptly named, as progress has seemed slow at 350 North State Street. In February, nearly three months after a lease was signed, the ground floor space on the east side of Hotel Sax was empty.
Keene Addington, owner of Tortoise Club and former CEO of Flat Top Grill, originally thought his restaurant – “a classic Chicago city club” with a “contemporary take on American classic cuisine” – would open in the spring. A website for Tortoise Club, the domain of which was registered a year ago, currently suggests the restaurant will open in “Summer 2012.”
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Two building permits have been issued this year by the City of Chicago for the space. On February 10, a permit was issued to Marina City’s commercial property manager for an estimated $75,000 interior renovation. On May 9, Addington was issued a permit for construction and interior alterations of a “new one story addition at ground floor.” The estimated cost to do this, according to the permit, is $500,000.
Reached by email on Monday, Addington (left) said there was nothing new to report, “but we are coming along.”
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Addington signed a lease at Marina City and applied for a liquor license last November. In February, he hired a chef, Edward Gray McNally, who has worked at three local upscale restaurants, including Spiaggia on North Michigan Avenue and the old Elysian Hotel, now a Waldorf Astoria.
Designing the restaurant is a Chicago firm, Northworks Architects. Tortoise Club will consume little more than half of the ground floor, leaving the north end still available for leasing.
(Right) Another view of work being done on June 22.
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