One of the Chicago area's most popular breweries, 5 Rabbit Cerveceria, signed a 12K SF lease at Mural Park, Condor Partners' two-building loft office redevelopment at 1900-1911 South Sangamon in Pilsen. The Bedford Park-based brewery will operate a 7K SF brewhouse in the basement level and a 5K SF restaurant on the ground floor, while continuing to brew in Bedford Park.

Condor Partners bought the former warehouses in 2015 and decided loft offices would be the best way to reposition the buildings. Condor Partners partner Michael McLean Jr. said Pilsen is primed to see interest from office tenants looking to be close to downtown and public transit. Mural Park is close to the Dan Ryan expressway, CTA bus and Metra rail lines, and adjacent to the South Loop.

The $50M Mural Park will incorporate an outdoor art gallery in a plaza connecting the two 100K SF buildings. The development comes as tensions between developers, businesses and community groups grow over gentrification and rising rents in the neighborhood. Mural Park is near a site where Property Markets Group wants to build ParkWorks, a planned multifamily development that has been stalled by activists seeking affordable housing allotments. Paseo, a planned 4-mile rails-to-trails project similar in scope to the 606, would run parallel to the two developments.

JLL's Jose Gonzalez and Joaquin Manriquez represented Condor Partners in the lease. 5 Rabbit is planning an early 2019 opening. Pilsen has become a hotbed for small breweries. Companies that call the neighborhood home include Moody Tongue Brewing Co., Lo Rez Brewing and Tap Room, and Alulu Brewery and Pub. CH Distillery opened a 50K SF distillery at 1611 South Clinton last year.