LOGAN SQUARE — A new brewery is eyeing the old Armitage Theatre building at 3545-59 W. Armitage Ave. for its first taproom.

That’s according to Joe Padorr of Seneca Real Estate Group, broker for property owner George Giannoulias.

Padorr wouldn’t divulge many details about the project, including the brewery’s name, saying the lease agreement still needs to be finalized. But the broker did say this would be the brewery’s first independent location if all goes according to plan.

The brewers have been making beer out of an established brewery for some time now, according to Padorr. The plan, he said, is to convert the storefront along Armitage into a taproom and convert the 7,500-square-foot theater space into a multi-purpose room. It’s unclear if actual brewing would take place there or not, he added.

Padorr said he expects to release more details in the coming months as the project takes shape.

Last fall, after months of construction work on the building, crews removed the facade, revealing a renovated exterior: modern brick with floor-to-ceiling windows.

At the time, Giannoulias, who has owned the property for about 15 years, told Block Club he was looking to bring in at least eight retailers and restaurants.

“We felt the neighborhood would really appreciate updated retail and they wouldn’t appreciate some big, bulky multi-use, mixed-use building,” Giannoulias previously said.

“With The 606 developed and the neighborhood seeing a lot of people investing, I thought it was prudent to bring this beautiful building back to life.”

Before the renovation, the building was home to various retailers, including a dollar store and insurance company office.



The building was originally home to the early 1900s-era Bismark Theatre, which was later renamed the Armitage Theatre.

Giannoulias previously described the theater as “one of the old-school Chicago theaters for when people wanted to catch a movie to get some air conditioning.”

Giannoulias and his team incorporated some of the building’s original details like exposed brick and wood truss ceilings into the renovated design.

Over the last few years, gentrifying Logan Square has attracted several new breweries, including Middle Brow Beer Co., Pilot Project and Pipeworks Brewing, to name a few.

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