Paris312's new store at Gateway Square has two fronts. The side facing the courtyard is the retail shop, with balloons, fresh flowers, backdrops and party favors. The side facing the parking lot is where the work gets done. It holds giant helium tanks and bins of ribbon, confetti and tassels, plus balloons in about 20 shades of teal and blue alone. The courtyard that the retail side faces is due to be torn out and rebuilt.
That's the odd thing about Gateway Square, the center at 777 N. York Road near Ogden Avenue, this fall. Two new shops are already open and a third is on the way. The renovation they're counting on hasn't started. It hasn't even cleared the Village's design review yet. Since 1985 the center has been the place for dry cleaning and a quick sandwich. Now it's filling with shops that host events and want people to stay a while, and they're doing it inside the old shell.
The tenants arrived before the facelift
Five Kings Properties bought Gateway Square in 2025. Property manager Ramis Memishi has been clear about how big the plan is. "No surface is being left untouched," he told The Hinsdalean in September. "We are aiming to revitalize the whole center." The plan covers a rebuilt courtyard, new signs and colors, a repaved lot and new lighting, with everything finished in 2027.
He also didn't sugarcoat the starting point. "The space was very tired," he said. "There was a lot of deferred maintenance that needed to be addressed right away." According to the Hinsdale Journal, closures at the center came up at a February 2024 Economic Development Commission meeting, and Village staff had been trying to help fill the empty spaces.
In the past year, the new tenants signed on while the center still looked that way. Here's the order it happened in:
- February 2026. I Design Salon & Blow Dry Bar, a longtime tenant owned by Michele Zayed, moved to a new unit three times its old size. The new space added a Davines Signature Head Spa and a lash and brow bar.
- January 20, 2026. The Village Board voted 4-0 to approve a special use permit for Sage Wellness Sanctuary, after a unanimous Plan Commission recommendation in December.
- May 20, 2026. Memishi showed the Economic Development Commission his first concept plans for rebranding and redeveloping the center.
- August 12, 2026. The Book Nook opened.
- September 19, 2026. The Book Nook and Paris312 held a joint grand opening, a family morning with face painting, treats and giveaways.
- October 2026. Sage Wellness Sanctuary's website still says it's opening this month.
The courtyard, the signs and the parking lot don't show up anywhere on that list. Each of these businesses committed to the center before any of the outside work began.
What the new shops have in common
Look at the three newest tenants together and a pattern shows up. Each one is built around visits, events or an ongoing relationship with customers, not a quick in-and-out errand.
The Book Nook is a children's bookstore for ages from babies to teens. It also sells gifts like stuffed animals and book bags. Owner Alison Kozlow has lived in Hinsdale since February 2020, and she says she designed the store and picked every title herself. The store is done in blue and green with whimsical art on the walls, and families can rent it for birthday parties or book club meetings. She plans to add book subscriptions, book clubs, drop-in events, regular story times and author readings. "People are craving to feel and touch and get away from screens," she told The Hinsdalean, "which is why it's great I got out of tech."
Paris312 is a party business that ran online for 10 years before opening this store. Co-founder and COO Niku Ghalkhani said its first store, in Lincoln Park, closed a few years ago because the company had outgrown it and COVID hit. The company still runs a production center in West Town. The Hinsdale store handles flowers, gifts and party supplies, and hosts can hire the company to set up and take down. "Our goal is to really be the go-to for all your small and medium-sized events," Ghalkhani said.
Sage Wellness Sanctuary, owned by Bianca Castlebuono, will take about 2,800 square feet. Plans include a meditation and movement studio, private contrast therapy suites, a wellness boutique, an elixir bar, workshops and memberships from basic to luxury. The Board minutes approving the permit say Sage's plans didn't call for any changes to the building or site. That helps explain how a spa could get approved while the center's own redesign was still at the sketch stage.
Kozlow pointed out that every business that has opened at Gateway Square in the past year is owned by a woman. She sees the owners as working together. "We are partnering to make sure we bring Gateway back to its glory days," she said.
These tenants join the businesses already there. A Village Economic Development Commission packet from May 2026 lists Angel's Pancake Cafe in Suite 22.
The two empty spaces that matter most
Getting shops in was the easier part. Restaurants are the harder one. The former Hua Ting space is still empty, and so is the two-story unit that housed Fox's Pizza until 2018. Memishi has called filling them a priority. No replacement tenant has been announced for either one.
"We think there is such incredible potential to include restaurants that can thrive throughout the day but also into the evening." — Ramis Memishi, Five Kings Properties, in The Hinsdalean
The evening is what matters there. A bookstore with story times, a party shop and a day spa all fill the center during daytime hours. A restaurant open at dinner would keep the courtyard busy after those shops close.
The Village has hinted at what kind of place it would like to see. In its May 20 minutes, the Economic Development Commission praised the overall look of the concept and the proposed entrance gateway off York Road. Commissioners also suggested Memishi consider renaming the center "Gateway on York." They mentioned Foxtrot and The Publican as examples of businesses he might go after. Those names show what commissioners would like. No lease has been signed, and nothing has been announced. Still, it says a lot that a Village commission is naming Chicago food and hospitality brands for a center that was dealing with closures two years earlier.
What still has to happen before the courtyard changes
The renovation has a long way to go before construction starts. The Economic Development Commission only gives feedback. In Hinsdale, the Plan Commission reviews exterior appearance and site plans for commercial projects. In mid-September, Five Kings was still working with the Village on approvals, aiming to finish in 2027. The September 9 Plan Commission agenda had a different project up for its public hearing. Gateway Square wasn't on it.
Here's how the project stands as of early October:
| Piece | Status |
|---|---|
| New ownership | Five Kings Properties, bought in 2025 |
| Concept plans | Shown to the Economic Development Commission on May 20, 2026 |
| Courtyard, signage, paving, lighting | Waiting on Village approvals, with a 2027 finish target |
| Sage Wellness Sanctuary | Permit approved January 20, 2026; website says it opens in October |
| Former Hua Ting and Fox's Pizza spaces | Empty; no tenants announced |
| "Gateway on York" name | Suggested by commissioners; not adopted |
Gateway Square isn't the only project on this stretch of Ogden Avenue. On January 6, 2026, the Village Board approved the exterior design and site plan for a new outpatient surgery center at 550 W. Ogden Avenue. In September, the Plan Commission reviewed a plan for 19 homes and a privately maintained park open to the public at 4S010 Madison Street, near Ogden and Adams Street.
For now, the new Gateway Square is mostly inside the storefronts. The Book Nook is taking party bookings, I Design has its bigger space, and Paris312 is filling balloons at its parking-lot-side workroom. The next public step for the renovation is a filing with the Plan Commission. Once it's on an agenda, anyone can see the redesigned courtyard before construction begins.
Jessica follows changes like this one at Gateway Square because what opens at York and Ogden shapes daily life on the north side of Hinsdale. If you live nearby and want to talk about how changes like this could affect your home's story, Jessica Halkias would be glad to set up a complimentary home consultation.
