GRAND BOULEVARD — The developers behind a much-anticipated “Time Out-style” food hall and marketplace planned for the 47th Street corridor cleared a major hurdle as City Council on Wednesday greenlit the sale of several city-owned lots needed for the project.
The council approved the $1.37 million sale of vacant land at 4727, 4735, 4739, 4743, 4755, 4757 and 4759 S. Cottage Grove Ave. to Milhouse Development for the construction of The Grove Bronzeville. Syzygy Cities is a co-developer on the project.
Plans call for a three-story, 86,000-square-foot venue with a food hall and marketplace. The Grove would be across the street from the now-closed Walmart Neighborhood Market.
Developers aim to bring more entertainment options to the 4th Ward, telling attendees in a September 2022 meeting that The Grove would be “a place of destination.”
Five Iron Golf, L3 Agency and South Shore’s Majani Vegan are among the local businesses that have signed on to lease retail space at The Grove.
The Grove would have a first-floor food hall largely consisting of Black female entrepreneurs leasing stalls while allowing them to grow their businesses.
A metaverse restaurant offering diners the opportunity to visit any virtual destination in the world — courtesy of technology created by coders trained at a coding academy — will be another draw. The coding academy would be a collaboration between the restaurant and House of Attention, a New York-based creative studio.
Food entrepreneurs and coders would be able to use the 15,000-square-foot restaurant to test their concepts and designs. For example, a hemed eatery could offer customers Tuscan food and wine against a virtual backdrop of a Tuscan hillside.
The restaurant would double as an event space, hosting DJs and educational programs, developers said.
The total cost of the project is still unknown, and developers said they hope to receive funding from the public and private sectors.
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