Ryan Ori

Windows illuminated in red form a heart on the facade of the Drake Hotel in support of the Hospitality for Hope initiative on April 20, 2020, in Chicago.

Downtown Chicago buildings lighting up in support of coronavirus first responders and essential workers

April 27, 2020 at 7:38 a.m.

Downtown Chicago streets are eerily quiet amid the new coronavirus, but the city's skyline is about to light up in recognition of those on the front lines of the pandemic....

Annie Diamond works at Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Hyde Park, April 10, 2020. The nonprofit runs two bookstores, the Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books and is adjusting to an online-only format because of the coronavirus.

Hyde Park bookstores turn the page to e-commerce amid coronavirus pandemic

May 27, 2020 at 3:44 p.m.

Online sales typically are just a blip for the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, which is known for staging 700 author events each year in Hyde Park. Now the nonprofit's two spacious...

Classic Cinemas CEO Chris Johnson is seen April 9, 2020, inside the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove. The family's 15 movie theaters have been closed since Gov. J.B. Pritzker's coronavirus stay-at-home order.

Owner of Tivoli, Lake and York movie theaters wins federal PPP loan, but no Hollywood ending in sight

May 27, 2020 at 3:45 p.m.

Inside the Downers Grove headquarters of Classic Cinemas, a retro soft drink machine sells sodas for just 25 cents. The irony isn't lost on CEO Chris Johnson. "I just took...

Salesforce Tower lands $500 million-plus loan; construction of 60-story office building kicks off along Chicago River despite coronavirus slowdown

April 14, 2020 at 11:39 a.m.

Development of the 60-story Salesforce Tower has kicked off along the Chicago River after the project secured a $500 million-plus construction loan that is one of the largest in Chicago...

The Old Post Office, center, in downtown Chicago, is seen Aug 19, 2019. Uber Technologies has decided to pause construction on its office space in the building.

Uber halts construction in The Old Post Office, marking Chicago’s first big office project delayed by the coronavirus

April 2, 2020 at 4:34 p.m.

Uber has halted construction on its massive space at The Old Post Office, marking Chicago's first big office build-out to be put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. The...

Kenneth Morrison sits in his apartment, which is above unfinished commercial space, in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood on March 31, 2020. He told his restaurant tenant not to worry about April rent — or any rent — until the coronavirus pandemic passes.

The rent: To pay or not to pay? Amid coronavirus, that is the question for businesses across Chicago.

April 1, 2020 at 5:43 p.m.

Ryan Tracy's landlord offered to let Tracy pay half the April rent for his suburban beer shop up front, then spread the other half across the rest of 2020. Kenneth...

Chroma K8 Salon owner Kate Jotzat poses for a photograph at her salon on March 26, 2020, in Chicago. Jotzat had to close her business on March 14 because of COVID-19, or coronavirus, and hopes to receive low-interest loans to prevent permanent closure.

Illinois small businesses scramble for grants, loans to endure coronavirus. ‘We’re pursuing everything because we need it.’

March 27, 2020 at 12:04 p.m.

Like many boutique hotel owners in Chicago, Bedderman Lodging is in crisis mode. The Chicago-based company has shuttered the 21-room Wheelhouse Hotel near Wrigley Field and the 52-room FieldHouse Jones...

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