O'Hare will add 15 restaurants and retail stores to Terminal 5. The international terminal currently has only a few fast-food type restaurants before security and only pre-packaged, cold meals past security.
The additions, expected to be complete in Fall 2013, include Chicago-based restaurants and brands, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. That means travelers will get a chance to shop and dine while waiting for their flights.
Chicago Chef Rick Bayless will have a restaurant, Tortas Frontera, and locally owned-and-operated Intelligentsia Coffee, which currently operates a coffee bar in Terminal 5, will have a café. Chicago-based restaurant group Lettuce Entertain you will run several options, ranging from their Big Bowl and Wow Bao to Hub 51 and Urban Olive, a new Mediterranean restaurant.
Also planned- an Italian restaurant, Tocco; a gastropub, Local Headlines Bar; and sandwich/salad shop, Natural Break.
The renovation will also redesign the TSA checkpoint, and include a duty-free shop through which passengers will pass after going through security on their way to the gates. A shop called I Love Chicago will offer local goods and art. Stand-alone luxury shops will include Bvlgari, Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Emporio Armani.
There will also be a spa, offering massages, manicures and pedicures with local-based products.
"The redevelopment fulfills Mayor Rahm Emanuel's vision to transform the terminal into a world-class experience for international visitors and Chicago travelers alike," CDA Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino said in a statement.
The project, which costs more than $26 million, will generate 180 construction positions and create 100 new full-time concession jobs. That will double the number of jobs at O'Hare's Terminal 5. The money comes from investors.
"We are deploying Westfield's global expertise in operating some of the most iconic shopping venues in the world to Terminal 5," said Dominic Lowe, Executive Vice President, Westfield Concession Management. "We are transforming the entire passenger experience in Terminal 5."
Twenty-four carriers operate out of O'Hare International Terminal 5, which was built in 1993.
