Ready or not, Chicago, here comes Billy Lee`s, a Near West Side establishment that hopes to be to entertainment what Water Tower Place is to shopping.
Billy Lee`s promises to be unique to the area. It`s an amusement facility with full-service dining. Or a grouping of restaurants with games and rides. Or a-say, did we mention the bars?
Scheduled to open in November, Billy Lee`s is planned as a dazzling, multilevel amusement complex. Completely enclosed-it occupies nearly 100,000 square feet of a huge warehouse at Fulton and Des Plaines Streets-it effectively is an entertainment mall, where a wide variety of activities, from silly to sophisticated, are gathered under one roof.
There are other amusement centers, certainly-in the suburbs at least. But none can match Billy Lee`s in size, scope or variety.
The fun starts on the lower level, which boasts a track for full-size electric-powered go-karts. The second level has a bumper-boat ride (on circular, motor-powered boats skimming along on a large, shallow pool) and a phalanx of video games. The upper level offers blackjack tables (the gambling is with play money), more video games, shuffleboard and computer-simulated, full-swing video golf games.
There also are three restaurants (ranging from fast food to fine dining), an oyster bar, a nightclub, four bars, private dining rooms and banquet facilities. The largest restaurant, called B2, boasts three 15-foot video screens and three 10-foot screens, suitable for displaying sporting events, music videos and/or whatever seems interesting at the time-such as ongoing, win-a-trinket Bingo games.
The overall effect is that of a yuppie playground, where one can indulge in childhood pursuits without sacrificing sophistication in food, drink and atmosphere. Owner William Spatz envisions well-dressed singles dueling in bumper boats, then discussing the battle over drinks before heading for the blackjack tables or the dinner table. He sees conventioneers flocking to his place. He sees a booming summer tourist trade.
What he doesn`t see, surprisingly enough, is a lot of little kids. ”It`s not really a kiddie place,” he says. ”The go-kart track is for ages 12 and older; it`s got real steering, you can lay rubber, you can spin out-it`s serious driving. The bumper boats we`ll probably drop to a broader range, say, 8 or 10 and older. Right now, we`re trying to stay with the adults-to-young-teens market.”
In fact, Billy Lee`s has one area that`s strictly adults-only; that`s where you`ll find the oyster bar, the blackjack and pool tables and the upscale restaurant. ”It`s a place where adults can get away from the kids and kids can get away from adults,” Spatz says.
The adults-only area will be markedly different from other young-singles bars, Spatz says. ”(Other places) are high-energy, with blaring noise and packed-in people. We`re doing a low-key bar, with pool tables-which aren`t noisy, despite what some people think-blackjack tables and background music. What we don`t want to be is a pickup bar. Billy Lee`s is for someone who`s tired of having his brains blasted with music, who`s looking for something active to do or watch.”
And Billy Lee`s is designed for observation as well as participation. Cutaway floors expose lower-level activities to those above. The go-kart track is partially visible from the bumper-boat level; in fact, one can see the go- karts from outside the building, thanks to oversize windows overlooking the cutaway floor. And even within levels, participants in one activity will have a clear view of participants in other activities. ”Visually, there always will be something to watch,” Spatz says. ”As much as we`d prefer everyone to participate, if you want to spectate, it`s going to be great.”
And inexpensive. Admission to Billy Lee`s is free; patrons pay per ride
(about $3 each for the go-karts and bumper boats, Spatz says), per game and, of course, per drink. You pay up front for the play money used in blackjack (part of the proceeds will go to charity, Spatz says), but luck and skill determine how long your play money lasts. ”Blackjack could cost you practically nothing, or it could cost you $50 an hour,” Spatz says. Most meals, he says, will cost $6 to $12.
Spatz says that Billy Lee`s something-for-everyone approach is ideal for families and groups whose members don`t want to do the same activities-the here`s-ten-bucks-meet-me-in-two-hours crowd. ”We`re looking for people with young families who are looking to get away from their young families,” Spatz says, smiling.
Spatz sounds confident that the place will succeed.
”We view this as the future,” he says. ”This is where restaurants are going, becoming places where people can go and be entertained. No longer can you be just a restaurant; you have to have something beyond that. Ultimately, we think that`s where the market is going.”
Spatz sets high goals for his enterprise, anticipating a drawing power comparable to Ditka`s and the Baja Beach Club, two mega-popular nightspots.
”If we do as well as them, we`ll be ecstatic,” he says.
A lot of people would think Spatz is being optimistic, not to say crazy, for thinking he can create a major draw on the West Loop. But he doesn`t talk as if he thinks this venture is even risky; he quotes market research and feasibility studies with the certainty of an adult explaining rudimentary arithmetic: The market is ripe and the bodies are close by; ergo, the plan will succeed.
”First, the entertainment-market demand is very strong here,” he says,
”and there`s a large convention market. There`s winter, but the offset of that is a tremendous summer tourist market. And the closest entertainment of this nature is well out to the suburbs. So from the point of view of someone coming to the city, we`re it, effectively.
”Another thing is that Chicago is probably the most active downtown residential market in the country, maybe outside of New York,” Spatz says.
”Presidental Towers alone has 6,000 people, sitting there a few blocks away from us, and the South Loop and West Loop are establishing real residential communities. It`s unique to be able to go downtown and be able to attract the tourist market, the convention market and a true residential market. Ultimately, we expect to do a substantial suburban traffic; but look at the people who are within a five-mile radius already.”
Another advantage Billy Lee`s enjoys is parking. Spatz has leased enough lots to park 300 cars-both self-park and valet parking-and can accommodate 450 cars on evenings and weekends. ”We also own five acres a couple of blocks to the north,” he says, ”so if we wanted to park 1,000 cars, we could.”
Spatz also expects to do a steady corporate business; back when the facility was nothing more than exposed conduit and plaster dust, he says he was booking holiday parties for Chicago companies. What Spatz will not do, he says, is sell out the entire facility to one group or let private parties monopolize the activities all night.
”If a corporation was here, we`d set aside, say, the bumper boats for a period of time for their use, then move on to something else,” Spatz says.
”But we won`t be in a situation that someone could walk in at 2 p.m. and be told, `You can`t ride the go-karts, ride the bumper boats or play the golf game for the next four hours.` ”
Billy Lee`s also has a plan to eliminate long lines at the go-karts and the bumper boats. Customers will walk up and be given a number or a starting time for when they can come back and ride. Video monitors, scattered throughout the facility, will let customers know when their turn arrives. ”We don`t want them standing in line for two hours, because then they`re not eating and drinking and being merry,” Spatz says.
This everything-under-one-roof concept is a familiar one to Spatz; he`s president of Spatz & Co., one of the nation`s largest shopping-center managers. Not surprising, then, this mall-ing of an amusement park. And not surprising that Spatz is already planning to expand.
A fourth level, scheduled to open next spring, will feature Nu-Vision bowling lanes, batting cages and pitching machines, basketball hoops, miniature golf and fast-food kiosks for people who really want food on the fly. Spatz is negotiating for a couple of other attractions as well, which might replace the miniature golf course. And after that?
”Our next move probably would be toward younger kids,” Spatz says.
”Ultimately, we have grandiose plans beyond this (current) thing. We have 200,000 square feet (in the building). We`ve got plans for a petting zoo;
we`ll add a soft-play area where kids can jump and climb around, we`ve talked about roller skating, and possibly miniature golf if we don`t have it on the next level. And we`ve also designed a suburban concept, to be ready when the time comes.”
Spatz plans a large-scale celebration to mark Billy Lee`s grand opening. He rejected the suggestion that the facility open quietly, smooth out the rough spots and hold its grand opening once everybody got comfortable.
”With a setup like this,” he says, ”we feel we have to be experts from Day One.”
Which, he hopes, should be here in, oh, about a month-and-a-half.
