The 700,000-square-foot McCormick Place West (312.791.7000; www.mccormickplace.com) expansion is scheduled for completion in July, eight months ahead of schedule. Highlights of the facility will include a 100,000-square-foot ballroom, a covered terrace accommodating 800 people, a 250-seat fine-dining restaurant, and two food courts with more than 1,000 seats.
The 353-room House of Blues Hotel is getting a $17 million makeover and will be renamed the Hotel Sax Chicago (877.569.3742; www.hotelsaxchicago.com) this summer. Gemstone Hotels and Resorts International is implementing floor-to-ceiling renovations of every guest room and expanding the hotel’s lobby and meeting space. The project is designed to combine the essence of a 17th-century French salon with a 21st-century twist incorporating decor from India and Europe.
The landmark Allerton Hotel Chicago (312.440.1500; www.theallertonhotel.com) recently dropped its Crowne Plaza affiliation, and its new owner, Oxford Lodging Advisory and Investment Group, plans to finish a redesign and renovation of the property later this year. The project will include the conversion of the third floor into a ballroom and meeting facility overlooking the Chicago Water Tower. The circa-1922 Allerton, one of the city’s first high-rises, was long known for its 23rd-floor lounge, Tip-Top-Tap, whose sign still graces the exterior of the building.
The 286-room Trump International Hotel and Tower (312.644.0900; www.trumpchi cago.com) is scheduled to open in 2008. The 92-story building will feature 20,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa and health club, and 90,000 square feet of retail space.
The 200-room Shangri-La Hotel (www.shangri-la.com/chicago) is slated to open in early 2009 as the first Shangri-La Hotel in the U.S. The property will feature private function rooms and a grand ballroom seating 180 for dinner, as well as a 24-hour health club and spa, and two restaurants.
Last September, the Chicago History Museum (312.799.2254; www.chicagohs.org), formerly the Chicago Historical Society, reopened after a 19-month, $27.8 million renovation that added Chicago history galleries, a children’s gallery, a redesigned and larger lobby, and the Chicago Room, an event space that overlooks Lincoln Park.
In April 2006, the $12 million McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum (312.222.4860; www.freedommuseum.us) debuted in the Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago. Exhibits are geared toward educating citizens about the freedoms they enjoy. Events can be held in a theater that seats up to 50 or among the museum’s many interactive exhibits, where a maximum of 300 people can be accommodated.
The historic Chicago Theatre (312.462.6300; www.thechicagotheatre.com) unveiled a second stage, the 281-seat Chicago Theatre Downstairs, in September. The new venue is available for private events.
