Update, August 2: Diamond Properties principal George Liakopoulos says that though he is willing to entertain offers for the property at 327 South Plymouth Court, the Plymouth Restaurant and Rooftop Bar isn't going anywhere, as he plans for the business to remain at the building as an occupant.
The building housing the Plymouth Restaurant & Bar, a legacy business at the southern end of the Loop, appears to be for sale, spelling even more change for an area with unprecedented levels of new construction and commercial activity in recent years. An @properties marketing brochure obtained by Chicago indicates that the business, as well as the vintage three-story building at 327 South Plymouth Court in which it's housed, are for sale.
Apart from its well-known rooftop deck, which overlooks the Harold Washington Library, the restaurant occupies the first and lower levels of the 8,250-square-foot building. The second and third levels are used as office space, according to the brochure. The marketing materials give other key specs, including the overall footprint and floor plans for the building, but the asking price isn’t mentioned. (Broker Michael Weber, reached by phone, declined to comment on the price or any other details.)
An anchor for the area since it opened in 2005, the Plymouth is a popular happy hour destination for office workers and students at nearby DePaul University and John Marshall Law School campuses. (Before it housed the Plymouth, the space was home to Binyon’s Restaurant, a classic Chicago eatery that had operated at the location for more than 40 years.)
The sale of the business and building doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Plymouth, but a recent spate of local business closures in Chicago is enough to cause some concern.
In this case, that’s particularly true: The South Loop has been at the center of a multi-year construction boom, which has seen the delivery of thousands of new rental apartments. On top of that, there’s the upcoming Old Main Post Office redevelopment, which will create several million square feet of new office space for the area and bring thousands of office workers to the section of South Loop west of the Chicago River.
The restaurant and building are both owned by George Liakopoulos, a well-established restaurant proprietor whose family has been in the hospitality business since the '60s, according to the Plymouth’s website. Other establishments within Liakopoulos’s development business, Diamond Properties, include the nearby White Palace Grill at Canal and Roosevelt, as well as Wicker Park’s beloved Hollywood Grill.
Alderman Sophia King (4th) could be reached for comment.