🍽 ON THE PLATE
Colectivo Coffee is doubling down on the North Side — Roscoe Village next. The Milwaukee roaster's Lakeview cafe at 3258 N. Southport is up and running, and per Chicago Business Journal / What Now Chicago, they're already building out a second new location at 2032 W. Roscoe St. (at Seeley), across from Same Same Thai. No open date beyond "fall."
Tarsila Cafe is Lincoln Park's new stop for coffee and Brazilian snacks. 1538 N. Clark St. Banoffee and dulce de leche lattes, plus pão de queijo, coxinhas, and empanadas.
Lincoln Station is back. The Buffalo Bills bar at 2432 N. Lincoln Ave. reopened in April after a 2.5-year rebuild following the November 2023 fire that destroyed it and killed Chicago firefighter Andrew Price. Owner Benn Hamm kept the marquee and rebuilt everything else — pool tables, darts, the works.
🌿 GET OUTSIDE
Two Bucktown gyms finally named. Bucktown Assembly (2036 W. Armitage Ave., strength training + HYROX, from trainers Ashley Stephen and Erik Nelson) and More Than Fit (1852 N. Milwaukee Ave., Malik Scott's rebrand of Pardner Sports Performance, youth-athlete and adult conditioning).
A boutique reformer studio is coming to the Gold Coast. JETSET Pilates at 12 W. Maple St., targeting September 2026.
🏗 PERMIT DESK
A ~$90M wave of permits just hit Hoyne and Leavitt — and it's Lathrop Homes. Nine renovation/new-construction permits issued this week for addresses between 2600–2768 N. Hoyne and 2731 N. Leavitt, ranging from $900K to $25M each. This is the next phase of the CHA's Lathrop Homes redevelopment — funding was approved back in April, led by Related Midwest and Bickerdike Development. The scope: restoring seven existing structures, demolishing three others, building a new five-story building, and adaptively reusing the historic powerhouse and smokestack into commercial space.
A former furniture warehouse in Logan Square is becoming a gym. The city awarded a $3M Community Development Grant this week toward converting the old Grace's Furniture building at 2618 N. Milwaukee Ave. into a four-story Logan Square Athletic Club, operated by Chicago Athletic Clubs, with ground-floor retail and a cafe. $11M total project.
QUICK HITS
Wicker Park's most-hated intersection is finally getting fixed — just not this year. Ald. Daniel La Spata's plan for an all-pedestrian "scramble" crossing at the Milwaukee/Damen/North six-way is getting delayed into 2027. CDOT says accessible pedestrian signals need to go in first.
See you next Friday — The 60614