Chicago’s Historic Daley’s Restaurant Relocates to CCLF/Chicago TREND -Financed Retail Space In Woodlawn Station

“Serving Woodlawn for over a century,” Daley’s Restaurant—Chicago’s oldest restaurant—has moved into its new, 21st century home in CCLF/Chicago TREND-financed retail space in Woodlawn Station.

CCLF/Chicago TREND-financed Woodlawn Station is now the home of the historic Daley’s Restaurant. The property on Cottage Grove Avenue also offers mixed-use affordable housing units.

A mainstay for 126 years at 809 E. 63rd Street in the Woodlawn neighborhood, Daley’s moved across the street to its 5,900-square-foot space this summer in Woodlawn Station, located at 6243 S. Cottage Grove Avenue. Now fully visible from busy Cottage Grove Avenue, Daley’s anchors Woodlawn Station’s retail level which also includes Ain’t She Sweet Café, Blue Lotus Yoga and a UPS Store. In its new Woodlawn Station home, Daley’s is able to seat more patrons, work within a larger kitchen with more equipment, and provide such amenities as flat-screen televisions and Wi-Fi service.

Daley’s Restaurant, the oldest restaurant in Chicago, relocated across the street from its original site to a larger, more modern location. The restaurant is highly visible from busy Cottage Grove Avenue and 63rd Street.

In addition to the viable, 14,440 square feet of space for retail on the first floor, Woodlawn Station is also an affordable housing development, featuring 70 mixed-income apartments—many adapted for handicapped accessibility— just steps from the CTA’s Green Line stop at 63rd and Cottage Grove Avenue. The apartment complex offers residents a computer room, a roof deck and a community room.

Build-out of the retail level of Woodlawn Station was financed by CCLF and Chicago TREND. Chicago TREND is a social enterprise for real estate developers, retailers and community development organizations seeking to invest in strategic retail projects that can drive transformative change in lower-income neighborhoods. Chicago TREND agreed with Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc.’s (POAH) analysis about the needs of Woodlawn residents to retain Daley’s Restaurant in their neighborhood. CCLF provided POAH with a $350,000 construction/mini-permanent loan for the build-out of 14,440 square feet of space. This loan was part of CCLF’s Activate Retail® initiative in partnership with Chicago TREND. Additional funders include: Illinois Housing Development Authority, City of Chicago, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and CCLF investors JPMorgan Chase and BMO Harris.

In addition to housing Daley’s Restaurant, Woodlawn Station also brings Ain’t She Sweet Café, Blue Lotus Yoga, a UPS Store and 70 mixed-income apartments to the community.

Daley’s origins date back to 1892 when John Daley established the restaurant in correlation to the Woodlawn community’s—and the city of Chicago’s—growth with the construction of the nearby University of Chicago campus, the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and the Rapid Transit Line (the “L”). In 1928, John Daley sold the restaurant to Greek immigrants Tom Kyros and Paul Emmanuel whose descendants maintained ownership through the years, having served such legendary celebrities as Muhammad Ali and most recently doubled as a set location for FOX Television’s “Empire” series and the movie “Widows.”