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WEST LOOP — The Alhambra Palace and City Winery are on track to get a big new neighbor sandwiched between them after the city’s Plan Commission on Thursday signed off on a 16-story hotel.
Meanwhile, more development appears headed to the neighborhood after the commission also approved an 11-story apartment building across from nearby Union Park.
The 259-room hotel next to the busy Alhambra and City Winery is at 1234 W. Randolph St. Designed by NORR Architects, it will stand 197 feet high and feature a ground-floor restaurant, an outdoor plaza, a third-floor terrace and a rooftop pool and bar.
To be called Standard Hotel, it will have zero parking and rely on valet services for its guests.
At a community meeting last month, neighbor said the large hotel would make traffic worse in the increasingly congested West Loop.
Noah Szafraniec, a supervising zoning plan examiner with the city’s Department of Planning and Development, told developers the agency wouldn’t sign off on the project until the developer presented a detailed plan showing how they would handle valet and other traffic.
An earlier plan for the project envisioned a 23-story hotel on the site, which had been A New Dairy Co. But that plan was revised for the smaller hotel.
If approved by City Council, the group looks to begin hotel construction in the spring.
Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development/ TwitterFarther west, the Plan Commission voted to approve an 11-story, 243-unit apartment building across from Union Park at 1440 W. Randolph St.
As part of the project, developer Marquette Companies plans to rehab an existing five-story office space and raze a two-story building to make way for the Brinninstol Lynch Architecture-designed apartment building.
Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development/ Twitter
Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development/ TwitterThe project will include 25 affordable units on-site and another 24 located off-site to fulfill obligations under the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance.
The building also includes 87 parking spaces.
During a community meeting in August, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) said he would not support the project. He said an apartment building would generate complaints from its residents during the summer festival season.
“I have a problem with this one because it’s across from the park. We have concerts in the park. People that go into the building are going to be complaining to me,” Burnett said. “The complaints won’t come to you.”
The proposal will head to the city’s zoning committing before heading to City Council.
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