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Zac Heren makes a coffee at Groundswell Coffee Roasters in the Fine Arts Building on July 7, 2026. Credit: Giacomo Cain\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\nDOWNTOWN \u2014 Chicago-based Groundswell Coffee Roasters is opening inside the Fine Arts Building this month, seven years after the building\u2019s original cafe closed.<\/p>\n
Located at 410 S. Michigan Ave., next to the former Artist\u2019s Cafe storefront, Groundswell will open July 20, serving breakfast burritos, sandwiches, pastries from West Loop bakery Good Ambler and an exclusive Groundswell x Fine Arts Building coffee roast.<\/p>\n
Adapting a space from the early 1900s to a coffee shop in 2026 took about a year, Groundswell Owner & Founder\u00a0Jason Foster told Block Club. Air conditioning needed to be added and an open elevator shaft needed to be covered, among other things.<\/p>\n
The result: a sleek, modern design with wood paneling, an aqua velvet couch for lounging, warm overhead lighting and plentiful seating along the front window and at circular tables throughout the space.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very important to the building and to me to keep everything just sort of natural and organic and looking like it belongs in this building, rather than just kind of inserting a random coffee shop,\u201d Foster said. \u201cIt feels like the Fine Arts Building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zac Heren makes a coffee at Groundswell Coffee Roasters in the Fine Arts Building on July 7, 2026. Credit: Giacomo Cain\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n
The Fine Arts Building, a Chicago landmark, has undergone significant renovations and refurbishings, which included\u00a0a multi-million dollar restoration of the Studebaker Theater<\/a>\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n The building is almost fully leased, according to artistic director Jacob Harvey. Tenants who call the arts space home include the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras.<\/p>\n The anticipation for the opening of Groundswell has been building, with passersby peeking into the window and trying to walk in while finishing touches were being made Tuesday afternoon. The cafe will be one of the few, if not only, local coffee shops along Michigan Avenue Downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cYou walk down the street, and you\u2019ll see Dunkin\u2019, Starbucks, Ghirardelli is still up there, Stan\u2019s. \u2026 This is a mom and pop shop, and I\u2019m literally just a pop, like I\u2019m just a guy,\u201d Foster said. \u201cIt\u2019s really, really humbling to be on such an iconic street, in such an iconic building and in a commercial hub of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n