In Lincolnwood, suburban chic succeeds ratty old Purple Hotel

A lot of people around Chicago still remember the old Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood, which stood for decades at Touhy and Lincoln avenues.

For some, the memories go back to when it was a swanky Hyatt House hosting the social affairs of north suburban families, and the entertainment might have come from Roberta Flack or Barry Manilow.

For others, the memories won’t transcend the place’s latter-day incarnation as a faded flophouse, and it’s best not to ask what drew them there.

The Purple Hotel became a den of iniquity and a steady source of trouble and code violations for the authorities. It was finally torn down in 2013, all 200-plus moldy rooms meeting their dusty end.

Head over to the site now, and you’ll see it’s well along to a new life of suburban comfort and commerce. Chicago-based Tucker Development is building a mixed-use project. It’s leasing 299 apartments, many of them overlooking Touhy and Lincoln avenues.

It’s also started to lease the retail space to fill out the development. LensCrafters and Fat Rosie’s taco and tequila bar have opened. Others expected to arrive are Fatpour Tap Works — a plump theme seems in the works here — and Lee Nails salon, whose spaces are under construction, said Scott Mangum, community development director for Lincolnwood.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

It’s being marketed as District 1860, a name that refers to no address and requires explaining. The village and a street it’s on are named for Abraham Lincoln, so it refers to his 1860 election as president. The “district” part suggests aspirations for the project as a community gathering place, and it’s unclear if it will hit the mark.

Gathering places need space and trees, and so far, the site plan by the firm CallisonRTKL offers little that invites lingering. Residents have outdoor amenity sections, including a pool built atop a parking deck, but that’s for their own use.

There is more to do on the 8.5-acre site. An Amazon Fresh store has been promised, and Mangum said developers have finished a building shell for it. He said interior permits are still to be issued, and he awaits formal word from Amazon that the project is going ahead. An Amazon spokesperson had no details about opening in Lincolnwood.

Mangum said the site also will likely get another restaurant, Davanti Enoteca, part of the chain owned by chef and entrepreneur Scott Harris.

Also still ahead is a hotel for the northern portion of the site. It’s to be shared by two Marriott International brands, Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites. Mangum said grading for the construction has started, and the lodging is expected to open in 2025.

Mangum said he’s last heard that 40% of the apartments have been leased. Messages left for Richard Tucker, CEO of Tucker Development, and the property’s retail and residential leasing agents weren’t returned last week.

The project’s website lists the apartment monthly rents as ranging from $1,600 for a studio to just under $4,000 for three bedrooms.

As many of the units are built along busy streets, it remains to be seen if they’ll appeal to tenants who want to live in a suburb but close to traffic noises day and night.

Mangum said the town has been pleased with how the development is taking shape on an already busy commercial stretch. Lincolnwood is really a fiscal partner in the $175 million venture. It has issued tax increment financing notes for the project, payable by the property and sales taxes District 1860 is expected to generate.

Lincolnwood has said the risk stays with Tucker Development, and taxpayers aren’t required to pay off the notes if the project goes belly up.

Mangum said he’s worked in Lincolnwood for three years, so he’s only heard from others about the site’s colorful past.

Even in its Hyatt heyday, the place hit the news in 1983 when mob associate Allen Dorfman was killed in its parking lot, a hit that has never been solved.

Sun-Times files

As the hotel became more disreputable with ownership and management changes, it became known for hosting “swingers’ parties” and events like the Midwest Holiday Fetish Fair & Marketplace. Convicted political fixer Stuart Levine said the hotel was where he met people for sex-and-drug parties.

The old Purple Hotel drew its name from the color of its brick panels that accented a modernist design. Its architect, John Macsai, said the color was chosen by none other than A.N. Pritzker when he envisioned the site as an outpost for his growing Hyatt chain.

Macsai, who died in 2017 and had several Lake Shore Drive high-rises to his credit, always was a good sport about people who didn’t care for the purple. He was an honored guest and took home a brick at the demolition ceremony.

Its successor is done up in muted earth tones — comforting and conventional. For Lincolnwood, that’s probably just as well.

Sun-Times files