The Glenwood Point Apartments, at 1412 W. Lunt Ave. , will locate the Athena Board Game Cafe on the first floor.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The Athena Board Game Cafe plans to reopen in Rogers Park through early fall, at the former Heartland Cafe, the neighborhood’s iconic place to eat and listen to music.
The one-story assets were demolished in 2019 and replaced by a five-story apartment structure with advertising area on the floor. Athena, which signed a 10-year lease, will occupy 985 square feet of area once the shell of the structure is completed. complete.
“We plan to offer the same products that our consumers enjoyed at the first location in a new, modern building,” said Athena founder Patricia Gonzalez.
Patricia González, owner of the Athena Board Game Cafe in Rogers Park (center) and her daughter Sara Rivera González play the game Machi Koro at the now closed cafe on West Howard Street. The cafe will reopen at 1412 W. Lunt Ave.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Its new location, at 1412 W. Lunt Ave. , will feature plenty of board games to play and serve food and drinks. Guests are also welcome to bring their own alcohol.
“I’ve lived in Rogers Park for almost six years. I moved here because it’s a vibrant, community-oriented place, and I hope it continues to be so,” Gonzalez said. “The citizens of Rogers Park were the core of my visitor base at my previous location, and I look forward to welcoming them back to the new location. “
The board game café will open in a place with heritage. Heartland Cafe co-founders Katy Hogan and Michael James opened the dining place in 1976 with the concept of creating a network through food, entertainment and sharing concepts, according to WBEZ.
Heartland closed in 2018 and the following year, owner Tom Rosenfeld sold the building to real estate investor Sam Goldman for $1. 3 million. Shortly after, the site that once housed politicians such as former Mayor Harold Washington and President Barack Obama was demolished to build what is now the Glenwood Point Apartments.
Rosenfeld said at the time that he couldn’t keep the beloved restaurant and sell it, according to Block Club Chicago. Heartland has faced monetary difficulties, in addition to a $455,000 foreclosure lawsuit filed in 2018.
Gonzalez remembers visiting Heartland when he moved to Rogers Park in 2018.
“It was a beautiful, cozy place with delicious food,” she said. “I’m glad Athena is here to be another anchor and gathering place for the community and I hope there are more spaces and activities around us. “
The concept for Athena came about through González’s stop at a board game cafe in London called Drafts, where she and her daughter would spend hours betting on board games.
He opened Athena at 1418 W. Howard St. in March 2020, but closed the location in 2023. Gonzalez said consumers enjoyed older games like Battleship or Guess Who? while more experienced players Splendor, Ticket to Ride and Catan.
Al Goldberg, lead broker with Al Goldberg Real Estate, which represented Athena, said in a news release: “I have visited the Heartland Café since its opening in 1976 and look forward to the APBA baseball game at the Athena Board Game. . Coffee. “
“We are very pleased with the opening of the Athena Board Game Cafe in the building; we believe it is a good fit with the Rogers Park network and we expect the network to reoccupy this domain,” Goldman, director of AGE Glenwood, said in a press release. .
Glenwood Point Apartments has 30 units ranging from studios to three bedrooms, with rents up to $3,450. Tenants moved in earlier this year, and Goldman said that of the 30 complexes, 28 have been rented.
It also has an interior room with a terrace, 15 interior parking spaces and a garage area for 30 bicycles.
“I believe East Rogers Park is one of the most colorful communities in the city,” Goldman said in an emailed statement. “The immediate decrease in reliance on cars and car-centric lifestyles make this a colorful and exciting community that fits the style of Chicago’s future. “
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