Swarms of college students, artists and young professionals occupy tables and couches, armed with iPods and laptops, sipping freshly-brewed coffee as eclectic indie rock blares from the speakers overhead. This isn’t just any coffee shop, though—Filter is back.

The owners of the popular Wicker Park coffee shop, Filter, were forced to close its doors when Bank of America bought their building and their lease in July 2005. On Jan. 29, they made their triumphant return to the neighborhood at a new address, 1373 – 75 N. Milwaukee Ave.

However, owner Jeff Linnane admitted that it didn’t seem quite so triumphant at first.

“I instantly had buyer’s remorse,” Linnane said. “I mean, the first day was like a ghost town in here, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ And the next day, we were rocking. The weekend was crazy.”

Linnane co-owns and operates Filter with his wife and business partner, Stephanie Blevins Linnane. He said the young, artistic Wicker Park residents felt the loss after the old Filter closed.

“They loved Filter,” Linnane said. “You have to understand—this was like their hangout, and it was being taken away from them, so how would you react? You wouldn’t be happy. Nobody was happy. So we told them to open an account [with Bank of America], get the free toaster and close their account.”

On a more serious note, Linnane expressed concern over the movement of large chain businesses into the neighborhood.

“Through gentrification, you got places like Starbucks, who initially, when they came in like five years ago, it was a big deal,” he said. “No one wanted them here, you know? And now you see the likes of Jimmy John’s, Dairy Queen, Lens Crafters, Levi’s, Marc Jacobs … When that happened, it basically skyrocketed rents, almost seemingly overnight.”

Linnane said smaller, independent businesses were pushed out of the neighborhood as a result of the increased rents.

While Linnane was eager to open again after the first Filter closed, he specifically wanted to find a new location that was still in Wicker Park out of a sense of loyalty and gratitude toward his customers.

“This is where we started,” he said. “I think people are going to remember us, and I just felt like we owed it to the neighborhood. They were so supportive of us when we left, and I know they really wanted us back, so if I were to put it somewhere else, I think maybe they would’ve felt a little bit betrayed.”

Linnane’s dedication to the community paid off in the form of returning customers like Columbia alumnus Donny Rodriguez, who regularly makes the trip from his Ukrainian Village home to enjoy Filter’s coffee and atmosphere.

“Me and my roommate, another Columbia alum, would trek all the way up because you don’t want to throw all your money at Starbucks. We like supporting local,”Rodriguez said, remembering his days frequenting Filter’s old location.

Rodriguez said he still liked Filter’s ambiance and energy, although he noted that the old location was bigger and provided slightly more working room.

Linnane said the process of reopening was long and arduous. The couple faced problems ranging from zoning issues to material delays, but they were glad to finally emerge on the other side of that process.

“We signed the lease in March, I believe, and here it is, almost a year later, and we’re finally open,” he said.

Linnane said the shop’s environmentally conscious design decisions helped the permitting process along.

Hans Fedderke of general contractor Helios Design + Build, LLC, explained the process of preparing the building for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, noting that much of the process involved selecting a location easily accessible via public transportation along with green energy modeling, water modeling and material selection.

“In the actual construction, there was picking the right materials, with either recycled content or reusing materials,” Fedderke said. “A lot of the stuff, if you look around, is from somewhere else. You’ll see in the restrooms there is slate wall tile that came from a house up north, from their roof … It was a conscious effort to reuse and repurpose existing materials.”

Fedderke said Filter was nearing the end of the green certification process.

“There was a lot of effort put into the selections once we were actually under construction,” he said. “And then documenting all that and submitting it all to the [U.S. Green Building Council] for approval. We’re in that process now.”

Fedderke said the final step of the process would probably take another 30 days, at which point Filter will receive its actual LEED certification.