CHICAGO-A partnership of local companies Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. and Cornerstone Restaurant Group will team to bring back a hometown sports hero to open an eatery downtown. The new Michael Jordan’s Steak House will open inside the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile on two floors of the hotel, replacing the former Zest restaurant.

The 6,300 restaurant will feature a first floor lobby bar and a second floor dining room, which will seat 160 people. Construction is set to begin this spring, and is supposed to open by the fall.

Jordan, who sponsors two other steak restaurants in New York and Connecticut, had run a restaurant in Chicago until it was closed in 1999. Cornerstone becomes the sole license consultant for the restaurant, which will be operated by the InterContinental.

A Cornerstone spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com that even during the economic downturn, customers are interested in new dining trends. “There’s a huge focus on local, seasonal ingredients, as well as a push for farm-grown and grass-fed ingredients. Urban gardens are popping up at restaurants around the city,” she says. Cornerstone also is involved with the other two Jordan steak houses, as well as other restaurants that include Wave at W Chicago and Zylo at W Hoboken in New Jersey.