Renovations to change the former Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire into a multipurpose event space recently started, ahead of a tentative April opening date for the new Loft 21 business, the owner said.
Owner Jazmine Gonzalez said her Loft 21, and its urban-loft concept that is popular in Chicago, needs to open by April since customers already have reserved the space for the spring. The bookings haven’t stopped there.
She said she has made reservations for events scheduled to happen through 2020 — a sign, Gonzalez said, that shows strong demand for the new Lincolnshire business.
“We have bookings all the way until 2020, so I’m pretty confident,” she said.
Construction crews earlier this month started tearing down the interior of the former Cubby Bear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., and they are scheduled to start redoing the exterior later this year, Gonzalez said.
When it opens in April, Loft 21 — a reference to Route 21, the state designation for Milwaukee Avenue — will provide a 31,000-square-foot space for wedding parties, corporate meetings, birthdays, team dinners and other private events.
The business space has been vacant since the Cubby Bear North closed without warning in early 2014.
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Loft 21 also will feature advanced lighting, sound and video equipment from H.Y.P.E. Productions, another business that Gonzalez owns, she said. H.Y.P.E. Productions has handled the logistics and amenities for private outings for the past 20 years, according to its website.
The atmosphere of the new business will be similar to what some Chicago venues create for customers, Gonzalez said.
“It still has that downtown, Chicago-loft feel,” she said.
Gonzalez initially wanted to the open the business by this fall but encountered delays when working with village officials.
She said the work with Lincolnshire officials on the annexation agreement, parking lot layout and other planning details pushed back the timetable for construction.
The first event scheduled in April at Loft 21 is a fundraising event for an area nonprofit foundation, Gonzalez said.
“It took a lot of time to redo our plans, but it actually worked out really well,” she said.
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