Richard Branson group snags $37M refi on Virgin Hotel Chicago

A Richard Branson-led joint venture landed a $37 million refinance package on the 250-key Virgin Hotel Chicago in the Loop, The Real Deal has learned.

The billionaire mogul’s Virgin Hotels Group and real estate firm Lionstone Development are partners in the 26-story art deco hotel, which opened in 2015 at 203 North Wabash Avenue, in the historic Old Dearborn Bank Building.

Prime Finance provided the debt package, which retired an HSBC loan. The new loan includes a four-year term and a one-year extension. New York-based Lotus Capital Partners, led by Faisal Ashraf, arranged the loan.

The Chicago location was the first of Virgin’s 10 branded hotels worldwide. Amenities at the Chicago hotel include rooftops, a fitness center and 5,000 square feet of meeting space

Virgin and Lionstone purchased the building for $14.8 million in an all-cash deal in late 2011, according to Lionstone’s Javier Granda. The ownership group includes a third unnamed investor.

The John Buck Company handled the building’s redevelopment from office to hotel.

Lionstone is no longer part of Virgin Hotels brand management, Granda said, and has no role in any of the other locations.

In September, Virgin Hotels revealed that it would build a 40-story property in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, which would also include a co-living component. Lotus’ Ashraf said his brokerage is going to market this week on a $30 million land loan for the Virgin Miami, which includes a $150 million construction financing option.

Another Virgin Hotel location is also slated for South Beach.