Rosemont buys former Ram restaurant building for $2.5 million
Rosemont has acquired a Higgins Road commercial building that once included the Ram Restaurant & Brewery in hopes of finding a new owner and filling the vacant space.
The village board this week agreed to pay $2.5 million for the single-story, 16,246-square-foot retail building at 9500-9520 W. Higgins Road, where Ram and a Starbucks location closed during the pandemic, but where a Cilantro Taco Grill and FedEx office remain open.
The purchase from GLIC Real Estate Holding comes after the bank took control of the property by inking a warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure with former owner CAS Rosemont Properties in 2020, Cook County property records show.
Village officials say they want to hold onto the property temporarily and resell to a new owner.
“We don’t intend to own all of this forever,” said Mayor Brad Stephens. “We intend to sell it sooner rather than later.”
Ram — a popular spot for pregame and postgame food and drinks to or from the Allstate Arena — closed in 2020. The Washington-based restaurant chain shuttered locations in Schaumburg and Wheeling in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
A brochure from a real estate broker that was marketing the property — which listed a $3.7 million asking price — noted the location includes a former restaurant with patio, and may be an “ideal space for (a) national coffee shop.”
But Stephens said the empty Ram and Starbucks spaces could be well-suited for other commercial uses too.