Lodgers at a new luxury hotel currently being built in Detroit’s Corktown won’t have to go far to enjoy a good meal.
Developers of The Godfrey Hotel announced their plans this week to open Hamilton’s, a “vibrant neighborhood tavern” inside the hotel’s confines at 1401 Michigan Ave.
The Godfrey is set to start welcoming guests this summer and Hamilton’s is projected to open on the ground floor in the fall.
The seven-story hotel project is being led by Oxford Capital Group, an international real estate and hospitality company, in partnership with Detroit-based homebuilder Hunter Pasteur.
They’ve enlisted Samy Eid’s Chickpea Hospitality Group to helm Hamilton’s and offer “an approachable, yet refined dining experience.” The restaurant is proposed to have an indoor dining room and bar that can accommodate 93 patrons, and an outdoor terrace along Michigan Avenue that seats another 38.
“I look forward to opening Hamilton’s in Detroit and partnering with Hunter Pasteur and Oxford Capital on the opportunity. It’s very exciting,” Eid told What Now Detroit.
Eid is the son and business partner of legendary Detroit restauranteur Sameer Eid, who opened the award-winning Phoenician in the early 1970s. He piloted the Lebanese restaurant through over 40 years of operation. It remains a popular draw in Birmingham.
Last year, the Phoenician was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for outstanding hospitality. It’s a staple of the Chickpea Hospitality Group, which Samy Eid founded in 2019 after the father-son duo launched Leila Detroit inside the Farwell Building in downtown Detroit’s Capitol Park area.
The Detroit Free Press and Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers named Leila the Restaurant of the Year in 2020. Chickpea’s roster also includes Forest, another restaurant that the Eids own in Birmingham.
“The Eid family has a distinguished track record of success and a well-earned reputation in the restaurant industry as best in class operators,” said Hunter Pasteur chief operating officer Seth Herkowitz.
The Godfrey will have 227 rooms and feature an indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge that overlooks the city and serves craft beers and appetizers. The hotel also proposes to have a 6,000 square-foot ballroom that can accommodate 350 people.
