- Credibility:
EDGEWATER — The quest to find a permanent replacement for the former Hamilton’s storefront will continue, with a tavern planned for the space now “on hold.”
The team behind Uptown’s pioneering gay sports bar Crew Bar and Grill previously announced plans to fill the former Hamilton’s space at 6341 N. Broadway with Cochran’s Tavern, an American-style eatery and bar.
Announced in early 2019, Steve Milford and Brian Wells said Cochran’s would open in 2020 while they sought funding for the venture, Eater previously reported. On Dec. 31, the business partners announced Cochran’s would be put “on hold” due to a lack of funding.
“The worst thing we could have done is to start the project underfunded,” a post on Cochran Tavern’s Facebook page reads. “This is not the end of the road, but more of an unexpected detour.”
The business partners in June signed a letter of intent with landlord Loyola University to occupy the storefront at 6341 N. Broadway, according to a post on Cochran’s Facebook page. At the same time, the partners were still seeking funding for the business.
“After 6 months of meetings, planning, and fundraising, we reached a point in mid-October when we knew we needed to put Cochran’s Tavern on hold,” the business said on Facebook.
Milford and Wells could not be reached to see if they are still pursuing a business in the North Broadway storefront across from the Loyola campus.
Credit: DNAinfo File PhotoCochran’s is not the only restaurant idea to sputter at the former home of Hamilton’s, a popular Loyola hangout that was closed in 2012 after 80 years when the building was bought by Loyola.
In 2013, 63 Bar and Grill moved into the storefront. Two years later, the bar was temporarily closed due to a failed health inspection.
In 2018, 63 Bar closed for good after having its business license revoked due to tax issues, the student-run Loyola Phoenix reported that year. Notices of the revoked business license still hang in the strorefront’s window.
Then came Cochran’s Tavern. Named for Edgewater’s founding father John Lewis Cochran, the bar promised a “diverse sports tavern,” according to its Facebook page.
Signs advertising the storefront for rent remain posted in the building’s windows. A representative from Loyola did not return comment on the future of the Hamilton’s building.
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