Level Hotels opening 56-room Fulton River District extended stay hotel

Onni Group is inserting an extended-stay hotel into its Fulton River District apartment tower project.

Level Hotels & Furnished Suites, whose parent company is Vancouver-based Onni Group, has started construction on its new 56-room hotel at 352 North Union Street, the Chicago Business Journal reported.

The hotel, being built on the same site as a 33-story, 373-unit residential tower by Vancouver-based Onni, is aiming to serve as a bridge for employees in the middle of relocating to work for companies with offices in the nearby Fulton Market District just to the west of Interstate 90 from the hotel site.

“We feel we can help support that growth by providing temporary housing that allows those employees to make Fulton Market their home,” Level Hotels vice president Javier Cepeda told the outlet.

Onni ventures also own the nearby Emily Hotel at 311 North Morgan Street in Fulton Market as well as Level Chicago-River North and Level Chicago-Old Town.

“Based on the success of Level in the River North and Old Town neighborhoods, Fulton Market was a natural progression,” Cepeda told the outlet. “It’s one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods as a business hub with celebrated restaurants and nightlife.”

It’s also drawn more bets from multifamily developers since a recent city zoning change allowed apartment towers to spring north of Lake Street. New development proposals in the West Loop in various stages of the planning and construction process aim to bring thousands of apartments to the area, meaning the Level hotel asset could assist Fulton Market workers awaiting a chance to snag a new rental if they’re anxious to begin living in the area.

Investors have poured cash into extended stay properties this year, propping up such assets to help lead the lodging sector’s recovery from the pandemic. Early this year, Blackstone and Starwood teamed up to buy 111 WoodSpring Suites properties, where guests often stay for at least 30 days, from Brookfield Asset Management for about $1.5 billion.

The rest of Chicago’s hotel industry could be catching up, though. Data from STR showed that Chicago hotel occupancy rates rose about 15 percent in July to 73 percent, the second-largest gain across the top 25 U.S. markets behind New Orleans, where occupancy rose about 17 percent.

Level’s new hotel will have studio units as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom suites and parking for 177 vehicles. It’s expected to be completed and open in the spring.

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