From SRO to AAA
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The hotel business–with its high overhead, stiff competition, and boom-and-bust cycles–is notoriously difficult, even for industry veterans. And Kornota and Klok are far from seasoned pros. While pursuing full-time careers as engineers, they started moonlighting in real estate. At first they bought and renovated small apartment buildings on the city’s northwest side. But while traveling in Europe, they took note of the many small hotels, or pensions, and wondered why there was nothing like them back home.
Kornota’s wife Bonnie, a former buyer at Marshall Field’s, played a key role. She spent $1 million just to redo the Surf in a French Imperial style, with gilt-frame mirrors and a bust of Louis XIV in the lobby. The Park Brompton’s decor is English Tudor, with lots of dark wood and a fireplace, while the City Suites is outfitted with 1920s Americana. A continental breakfast is served at all three properties, and Kornota hopes to introduce afternoon tea next year at the Park Brompton.
In recent years Fitz Gerald became known for encouraging a collaborative spirit among art dealers and artists, often mounting cooperative shows, a practice that may have been good for art but apparently not for making money. Last year he moved Space into the thick of the River North district, setting up shop among galleries that usually deal in the work of more established artists. He mounted shows by Amy Yoes, Martha Ehrlich, Spencer Dormitzer, M.W. Burns, Thom Osborn, Mike Lash, and others. But he admits that the closing was a long time coming. “The gallery had been on a slow decline since June of this year.” Upon returning from dismal sales at a Los Angeles art fair earlier this month, he notified the gallery’s artists and began making arrangements to shut down.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Randy Tunnell.
