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I am a successful hospitality Consultant in Chicago, having created a well know sports venue on the North Side of the city, and a personal bar that was in Esquire's top 100 bars in the country in 2008. I recently worked for a hospitality group creating a venue/bid to be presented to a magazine in hopes of receiving the licensing and make it the periodical's Chicago Club. While the licensing deal was signed with a competitor in late August 2011, I was approached by by their number 1 competitor with a similar licensing offer, but at a better rate, more support etc. They revealed that since their buyout in 2005, they are revamping their image to be a little softer and refined. After the company's purchase, the new parent company went public on the stock exchange in 2010 making considerable profits as opposed to the woes faced by its competitor's attempt at going public and then private etc. The parent corporation owns and operates over 3000+ social networking sites, making it quite a large presence in the social/viral networking and marketing world. The magazine to be worked with here has a name which is currently associated with gentleman's clubs, spa's cabanas, suites etc all over the world. The Forum as I propose, will be a unique formal entity, encompassing many of the other forms of venues. It is also unique in rather being a hotel that houses a club, rooftop cabana, and restaurant, it is an entertainment complex that that also houses a boutique hotel. This role reversal is relatively unheard of on any scale, let alone the level of upscale presentation that will be found in this venue.
The landscape and timing to rejuvenate the regal atmosphere of the old gas lamp style clubs but with parts accessible to the public could not be better. With the reemergence of clubs in Las Vegas, Macao, and locations planned for London, Miami, and Cancun, and now one slated to open in Chicago, a chance to support their competition is prime. The company approaching me is hoping to open a venue here in Chicago as soon as possible to enhance its image and promote sales against its largest competition.
The venue I created will be a multifaceted venue. A fine dining atmosphere on the second floor, posh sports bar/lounge on the first, a late hour dance club in the basement, a rooftop lounge with cabanas to be available during good weather, and all paired with a boutique hotel occupying the other floors that are served by the restaurant’s kitchens. The third floor will be separated into three parts, a private members only key holder club that offers service 24 hours, a salon/spa that will help appeal to female clientele, and the hotel lobby. Located on the busiest intersection in Chicago, this proposed site for a Chicago location offers great exposure to the city and all visitors coming off the highways. The building offers stellar 360 degree views of the city skyline from every floor, and can become the only hotel in Chicago to operate with the 4am late hour license. All aspects of the this venue are being incorporated in a timeless style to avoid frequent reconcepting/remodeling, and that will appeal to all patrons both established and emerging. The venue will be available to the public; with membership to the private club sold at a base price with annual dues will require an application for membership that will be reviewed by a board of governors consisting of high profile members and club senior management. All aspects of the venue's operation will be catered to by the iconic image of its superior support staff, in a rich ambiance of class, power, and esteem. The venue’s availability to the public besides having offering specific to private members resembling the atmosphere of the gas lamp clubs in the 50s/60s, as well as just being a larger venue in sheer size of 65,000 sqf not including the roof when usable and weather permitting.
The magazine is interested in the project, and has pledged me the licensing agreement within 2 weeks of me establishing proof of funds. The project estimates all inclusive with the real estate, build out, salaries and start up fees and opening inventory is approximately $35 million. There is a discussed discount on the property if it can be purchased before the end of the calendar year due to tax breaks for removing the building from their portfolio. It is recently vacant and upgraded, and they have their own designs for the property if no one chooses to purchase it before-hand. If all comes together, there are talks through my media contacts to create a reality based tv series about the venue focusing on the staff, particularly myself and the Pets on a major cable network, creating a type of publicity that the normal methods of advertising (print ads/tv ads/online social networking and viral marketing) cannot match with the target audience of guests.
I am looking for an investor, or group of investors rather, be they angel investors, Venture Capitalists group, Private Equity lending corp etc, that may or may not wish to remain name less, to loan the sought $35 million, over a 5 year term. I would normally say 3 years, but the first calendar year of the term will be under construction to be open for NYE 2013, and no sales will be incoming. Interest will be accruing the entire time on schedule, with the first payment to be made after the 1st period of business open - be that determined monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annually.
I'm not asking for anyone to disclose themselves if they are interest in financing the deal and getting a good return on interest, but have no interest in being associated with the name of the project. The magazine carries a stigma these days due to an aggressive American campaign against the originally UK based publication. Finding people out there to overlook the stigma and realize the value of being in on the ground floor of the over haul of such a storied publication is no easy task. I am open to other arrangements as well regarding the lien terms - i.e. only buying back 50% of operation, but no operational role at all, allowing whomever is the lien holder to continue to receive 50% of net revenues while the venue is open. If that is the deal, than the interest rate at which I buy back the other half will be considerably lower.
The other speculation is that this venue is to0 pricey, and no individual venue like a bar or club can realistically make these sorts of revenues, but unlike many places, this is the equivalent of 4 separate venues in terms of square footage and purpose, not to mention the 4 story boutique hotel. The revenues from each of these portions as separate entities would more than amply meet the principle amount of the loan, allowing for a higher rate of interest than would be normal for business loans, and I'm very negotiable on rate in order to make this come to fruition as soon as possible. The consultants, management team, and documents are all in place contingent on finding a new source of start up capital.
Feel free to contact me at any time day or night regarding this opportunity. I will not hesitate to entertain any serious offers from anywhere in the world.
So you know I'm not some random person off the street, I would like to tell you a bit about myself over the last decade. Besides being a hospitality consultant as I mentioned earlier, has extensive hands-on experience in opening, managing and promoting night life venues in the Chicago/Las Vegas markets. For this proposed venue, I will oversee the General Managers of the Food/Beverage, and Hotel/Spa operations, while monitoring the private members only club and merchandise sales myself. My roots in Chicago’s hospitality industry started upon my return from 3 tours of duty served in naval special warfare in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Commencing work in Chicago’s famed Gold Coast and Wrigleyville neighborhoods, I quickly rose through the management ranks taking on large projects around the city of Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, Miami etc. In partnership with other Chicago bar management mainstays, I opened my first bar as an owner, which was rated in the top 100 bars in the country in 2008. I maintained this position until diagnosis with gamma delta Peripheral t-cell lymphoma, when shares and responsibilities were sold to cover medical expenses etc.
Upon remission and a stem cell transplant, and again back to Chicago, I assisted in opening 2 more restaurants in the downtown area. At this point, I was offered the opportunity to be part of the creation and development of the sports venue on the north side of the city for one of Chicago's sports teams and is solidified as a new venue in Wrigleyville. It is the only venue of its nature in the country.I originally attended the school for Nuclear Engineering – Plasma Technologies. As a reservist, I was activated to full active duty after 9/11 in support of a special warfare group. After becoming disabled due to injury, I returned to Chicago. Upon returning to the US, I finished my degree in marketing in less than 2 calendar years. I currently am an active participant in the Chicago triathlon, Immerman Angels, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.I'm the sort of person always on the go, ready to take on any project that I feel challenges my creativity and be a pioneer in terms of envisioning new types of venues, or mixing multiple venue types and revolutionizing the transition between them to create unheard of venues like the sports venue and the new one I propose now.
I would do and negotiate on almost anything to see this venue become the highlight of experiences for all Chicagoans and visitors to the city: be they vacationers, celebrities and athletes alike. I will gladly provide any interested partie a brief overview packet of the project with a few more details as to what I'm working on, including the letters from the publication's licensing department acknowledging their desire to work with me and what they will offer in return.
If you're interested by yourself or have a group that would like to partake, do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your consideration