Here Are The 3 Wrigleyville Construction Projects Underway Near Wrigley Field
By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 28, 2016 4:35PM
Renovations on Wrigley Field began in earnest in 2014, but efforts to transform the ballpark and surrounding Wrigleyville are still just getting started. Even though Wrigley Field proper now has a new Western facade, improved center field bleachers, and a 300,000-square-foot clubhouse, all completed in the 2015-2016 offseason, workers have only started two of the three major construction projects the Ricketts family has planned for the field's environs.
Here are the three forthcoming projects Wrigleyville residents can look forward to (or dread, if that's their disposition):
An office building and open-air plaza
Construction on this one has been underway since last year, in the lot that was once the field's triangle parking lot. Soon (unspecified how soon), a six-story office building will occupy the north end of this lot, with shops on the ground floor and Cubs administrative offices above. The rest of the lot will be an open-air plaza, intended for year-round usage—it could potentially host an ice rink in the winter, and farmers' markets in the summer. (The Ricketts Family has a deal with CBS Radio to produce "fun" outdoor concerts there, too.) Most specifics of what will be permitted there are hotly contested, though, by the Ricketts family, Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), local sports bars, and anyone else who could lose or gain money or status via the plaza.
Slated to be up and running by Opening Day of 2018, this annex—which translates to "an extra chunk of Wrigley Field they'll just kind of stick on there"—will go where Captain Morgan Club currently is. The first floor will have a restaurant, Cubs merchandise for sale, and Wrigley Field's official ticket office; the rooftop will host supplemental ballpark concessions and bathrooms, and connect to ballpark's existing terrace concourse.
Preliminary excavation to pave the way for this hotel on the northwest corner of Clark and Addison began back in 2014, and construction is scheduled to wrap up in 2018. The hotel will be "a premium neighborhood boutique Starwood hotel," according to the Cubs' stated plans, with 180 rooms, retail, and some sort of restaurant. Fans who never want to leave Wrigley Field will now barely have to!
[h/t Tribune]