WOODLAWN — The University of Chicago’s plans for a 13-story, 167-unit hotel tower are moving forward, with groundbreaking set for this month and an opening expected in 2021.
The project at 1227 E. 60th St. was permitted Jan. 14, according to Chicago Cityscape. Twelve stories will be used for the hotel, with an additional floor for equipment.
The hotel’s estimated price tag is $55 million. It will sit along the southern edge of the Midway Plaisance and feature a full-service restaurant, assembly space and a 10,000-square-foot green roof.
The David Rubenstein Forum will open this September and is “expected to generate substantial demand for the hotel,” as will the nearby UChicago Medicine campus and annual university events, a university spokesperson said.
Developer Study Hotels, which hosts similar projects near Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, will operate the hotel.
The hotel will be a half-mile from the site of the planned Obama Presidential Center. The hotel group began pursuing the project “well before” Jackson Park was proposed to host the center in July 2016, according to Study Hotels company president and founder Paul McGowan.
“Our main focus and the purpose behind our brand is to integrate ourselves into the university community — school life and the future environment on campus,” McGowan said. The project is “not at all tied to the development of the presidential center.”
Study Hotels “takes great pride in paying attention to details and [ensuring] that our designs are harmonious with the local environment,” McGowan said.
No existing structures will be modified or demolished during construction, according to McGowan.
The restaurant will be run the hotel group, McGowan said. Its menu and concept are still in the works, but he said it will appeal to hotel guests as well as to the neighborhood and campus.
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