11 East Partners Lands Moxies for Newberry Plaza Redevelopment

Two local developers landed a high-profile restaurant tenant for their retail redevelopment of a landmark residential skyscraper in Chicago’s Gold Coast.

Moxies, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based restaurant chain, leased 13,600-square-feet in Newberry Plaza, at 1030 North State Street, CoStar reported.

11 East Partners and Blackbird Investment Group’s redevelopment will rebrand the building as Newberry on the Triangle and is set to reshape the lower three floors of the 52-story tower, formerly home to Morton’s The Steakhouse, which closed in late 2020. Renovations are expected to begin later this year, with Moxies planning to open by spring 2026.

The leasing deal for Moxies was facilitated by JLL’s Adam Cody and Patrick Owens, while CBRE’s Danny Jacobson, Luke Molloy, and Stephen Ansani represented the landlord.

Moxies, headed by president and COO Joanne Forrester, operates 58 restaurants across Canada and the United States and has been expanding its U.S. presence, with eight locations already established, primarily in Texas.

11 East Partners, led by Paul Fitzpatrick, specializes in development and adaptive reuse of retail and mixed-use properties. It bought the retail portion of Newberry Plaza for $16.9 million from the Habitat Company in 2018. The firm’s previous projects include the renovation and adaptive reuse of Sullivan Center, a historic landmark office and retail building at 9 East Madison Street in the Loop.

Blackbird Investment Group was founded in 2014 by Greg Adler and Todd Vender. Its holds retail and industrial assets, including the Seattle Mart, at 200 Southwest Michigan Street in Seattle, which was a distressed property purchased from a special servicer, according to its website.

Several other restaurants are also set to open in the Gold Coast. A dining concept from the group behind Adalina will take over the former Fred’s restaurant space atop the old Barneys building on Oak Street. Carmine’s Bar & Lounge is also making a comeback, with plans to occupy a two-story development at 1041 North Rush Street.

— Andrew Terrell