Chicago’s new Moxy hotel appears to live up to its name. From the bold, industrial-chic design to a bevy of playful touches (press a button on the retro phone to hear a bedtime story — naughty or nice), moxie abounds in this 156-room property that opens today in River North.
The Smith, a restaurant that debuted in 2007 in New York’s East Village and has since opened three additional locations in N.Y. and another two in D.C., is coming to Chicago.
“Our target audience is what we call ‘fun hunters,’” general manager Rob Mastro said during a recent sneak peek of Moxy Chicago Downtown. “They’re not going to stay in their room all night. They want to get out and explore or hang out with us downstairs.”
Developer Albert Friedman would build a new River North firehouse for the Chicago Fire Department topped by a big office and mixed-use tower under a deal he just reached with city officials.
Today, Albert Friedman’s company owns about a dozen blocks of River North, properties that include 32 restaurants, a hotel, retail, offices and other uses.
The afternoon glow of a sinking sun peeks through Albert Friedman's office, backlighting a bookcase filled with green, blue, and caramel-colored glass bottles still frosty from the Great Chicago Fire that glazed them more than a century ago.
