NEWSLETTER
With the Wrigley Field renovation and development project going full bore, and with the lawsuit involving the rooftops seeking to protect their views into the stadium not looking good for the rooftops, that whole story line has fallen off the literal and metaphoric front page around here.
That doesn’t mean stuff involving the rooftops isn’t still big news. Like this, for example:
Breaking Cubs news: Ricketts family purchases 3 more Wrigley rooftop properties. Now owns > half the rooftop market: https://t.co/8FmR7u9yp9
— Danny Ecker (@DannyEcker) January 13, 2016
That gives the Ricketts Family an interest in 10 of the 16 rooftops around Wrigley Field, and owns a full nine of them. The last reported purchase was back in mid-2015.
[adinserter block=”1″]As the Ricketts’ interest in the rooftops expands, and as Wrigley is further developed, my guess is that you can expect to see the rooftops further integrated into the overall Cubs experience. As I’ve written before:
It’s something I’ve talked about for years: imagine a scenario where the rooftop experience is an integrated part of the Wrigley Field experience, together with actual Cubs-related infrastructure in the lower levels of some of the buildings. A Cubs Hall of Fame in one or two of them? Cubs shops? Cubs bars? There’s not a ton of room to work with around Wrigley Field, but the rooftop buildings have always seemed a logical way to expand the Cubs-related area in a non-obtrusive way. I’m all about the character of Wrigleyville, but I also wish there was just a little more Cubs-related stuff in the area. The plaza and hotel planned for the west of the park will certainly go a long way to sating that interest, but the rooftops could be another step.
The rooftops will continue to be operated as rooftops, and, specifically, Wrigley Rooftops – the collective of the 10 rooftops in which the Ricketts have an interest – announced today a centralized site for fans to explore those rooftops and buy tickets.* The Wrigley Rooftops will be operated together by the Loukas Family (who’ve been involved in the rooftop business game for a long time).
So long as the rooftops continue to look and feel like the rooftops, having them under the broader Cubs umbrella will almost certainly be a good thing.
*(BN get-together next year at one of those rooftops for a game? Who’s in?)
