Culver’s lands building permit for South Loop restaurant in former Aurelio’s space

Culver’s moved a step closer to opening in the South Loop when the city issued a building permit on September 18, 2026, for the former Aurelio’s Pizza space at 1212 S. Michigan Ave. The permit covers a restaurant build-out inside the two-story commercial space at the base of the Park Michigan Apartments building, including electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and ventilation work, Block Club Chicago reported on September 30.

No opening date has been announced. The South Loop restaurant would be the 11th Culver’s for franchisee Baron Waller, whom Block Club describes as the chain’s largest minority franchisee. He opened the first Culver’s inside Chicago city limits, in Bronzeville, in 2018.

Here is where the project stands, based on city records and earlier reporting.

• The city issued building permit 101084481 on September 18, 2026, after an application that began June 9, 2026.
• The permit lists a reported construction cost of $1.5 million and $5,119 in city fees.
• The space covers about 5,200 square feet on two levels, according to Block Club.
• Plans call for a patio, a second-floor roof deck and a walk-up window, but no drive-thru.
• Waller signed a 15-year lease for the space in late 2025, according to Block Club.

What the September 18 permit covers

The record in the city’s building permits database describes the job as a renovation and alteration permit for a restaurant build-out of an existing commercial space in an existing two-story building. The permit does not name the tenant; Block Club tied the filing to the Culver’s project. Contractors are listed for electrical, plumbing, refrigeration, ventilation and masonry work, and the record shows the permit as active, with the project at the inspection stage.

The application went through the city’s Self-Certification Permit Program. Under that program, an Illinois-licensed architect or structural engineer who has completed extra Department of Buildings training prepares and seals the drawings and takes responsibility for code compliance, in place of a standard city plan review. City records show 101 days between the start of the application and the issue date.

The timeline has already slipped once. In August, What Now Chicago reported that the project was still in city permitting. Citing the Chicago Business Journal, the same report said Waller had originally hoped to open by summer 2026.

A patio, a roof deck and a walk-up window

The restaurant is planned with a patio, a second-floor roof deck and a walk-up window. There will be no drive-thru, according to Block Club. What Now Chicago reported that the plans include 176 seats inside, 29 on the patio and 50 on the deck. The same report cited a real estate listing that described the space as a fully built-out restaurant with an existing hood, sinks and a grease trap.

The corner location is part of the pitch. When the lease was reported in December 2025, Hoodline noted that the broker’s listing promoted the space’s Michigan Avenue signage and Roosevelt Road frontage. The building faces the south end of Grant Park.

Waller has opened Culver’s restaurants designed for walk-in customers before. In May 2021 he opened Culver’s Ravenswood at 1819 W. Montrose Ave., near the Montrose Brown Line stop, with a takeout window and seating for 100. “This is the first Culver’s without a drive-thru,” he told Block Club before that opening. In October 2023 he opened Culver’s Wrigleyville at 1111 W. Addison St. with a walk-up window for to-go and pickup orders, NBC Chicago reported.

A decade of Aurelio’s at Michigan and Roosevelt

The space was home to Aurelio’s Pizza for about 10 years. The pizza chain, founded in Homewood in 1959, opened the South Loop restaurant in June 2015 after more than a year of permit and construction delays, DNAinfo reported at the time. The pizzeria had a 200-seat dining room and a double-decker patio with seating for 100 and a view of Grant Park.

Aurelio’s closed the location in May 2025. Owner Joe Aurelio said the cost of rent was no longer feasible and that the company wanted to put their time into new locations and franchisees, NBC Chicago reported. Block Club had reported in March 2025 that the South Loop restaurant was the chain’s last Chicago location.

The franchisee behind the South Loop plan

Waller grew up in North Lawndale and attended Lane Tech High School, according to a 2023 N’Digo interview. He graduated magna cum laude from Wayne State University, earned an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and spent more than two decades at Crain Communications and IBM before buying into Culver’s. Part of the appeal, he told N’Digo, was that “you really get to own your franchise.”

His first Culver’s was in New Lenox. In January 2018 he opened Culver’s Bronzeville at 3355 S. Martin Luther King Dr., Chicago’s first Culver’s, and staffed the restaurant with 65 local residents, including 43 high school students, ABC7 Chicago reported. “From the Culver’s window, I can actually see the building where I lived,” he told ABC7 on opening day.

The Far South Side came next. Culver’s Pullman opened in November 2021 at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, billed at the time as the first fast-casual sit-down restaurant in Roseland or Pullman in 30 years, Block Club reported. LISC gave Waller a Chicago Neighborhood Development Award for the Pullman project in 2022, according to N’Digo.

In November 2023, Waller opened Culver’s West Humboldt Park at 4347 W. Chicago Ave., the first project completed on the city’s Public Safety Training Campus. The city built that restaurant on city-owned land as an incentive, and Waller holds a 15-year lease there, Block Club reported.

Culver’s in Chicago

Culver’s was founded in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin, by Craig and Lea Culver and Craig’s parents, according to the company, and is known for ButterBurgers and frozen custard. The chain’s franchise page says Culver’s has grown to more than 1,000 restaurants in 26 states. The company’s website lists eight restaurants inside Chicago city limits, so the South Loop location would make nine.

Getting there

The site is at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, and several transit lines stop nearby, according to the CTA.

• The Roosevelt station at 1167 S. State St. serves the Red, Orange and Green lines.
• CTA buses #1, #3 and #4 stop on Michigan Avenue near Roosevelt Road.
• CTA buses #12, #18 and #146 stop on Roosevelt Road.
• Metra Electric and South Shore Line trains stop at the Roosevelt Road station in Grant Park, three blocks east of the CTA station.

For drivers, city license records list a commercial parking garage at 1212 S. Michigan Ave.

What happens next

With the building permit issued, construction and city inspections come next. Before any restaurant in Chicago can open, the operator needs a Retail Food Establishment license, which the city issues only after a public health inspection and only at a properly zoned, non-residential location. As of October 1, 2026, the city’s business license data showed no license for a Culver’s at 1212 S. Michigan Ave., and the South Loop restaurant did not yet appear among the Chicago locations on the Culver’s website. Waller could not be reached for comment, Block Club reported.

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