The Prime Group secures permits for RIU Plaza Hotel

The Magnificent Mile is one step closer to getting a new hotel.

The Prime Group secured permits so it can move forward on its plans to build the RIU Plaza Hotel Chicago at 150 East Ontario Street downtown, Urbanize Chicago reported. The project will replace an infill site off of North Michigan Avenue that has been vacant for more than a decade.

The estimated cost for the project has not been disclosed.

The new building, which is being designed by Lucien LaGrange Studio, will be flanked by two adjacent buildings that span the block between North Michigan Avenue and North St. Clair Street. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor for the project.

The 345-foot-tall, 28-story hotel is being built for Spanish hotel chain RIU Hotels and Resorts. It will feature 388 rooms. It will not have any on-site parking. The ground floor of the hotel will include the main lobby and a coffee shop, while the second floor will hold a breakfast dining room that connects to the lobby via an ornately designed staircase.

A few miles north, Condor Partners was granted a foundation permit for a long-awaited hotel project at 1528 North Wells Street in Old Town. The 203-room hotel will rise 12 stories on a vacant lot that’s being used as a surface parking lot.

Data from STR showed that Chicago hotel occupancy rates rose about 15 percent two weeks ago to 73 percent, the second-largest gain across the top 25 U.S. behind New Orleans, where occupancy rose about 17 percent.

Prime Group contributed $2.9 million to the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and rezoned the property as a Planned Development as part of the approval process.

Foundation work on the Ontario Street hotel has begun, meaning it will likely open in late summer 2024.

Read more

Chicago

Sterling Bay sells hotel in Michigan Avenue tower for $74M

— Victoria Pruitt