NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels are being developed in major gateway cities in the U.S. Here’s a look at the projects:
CitizenM Plans Properties in Chicago, Miami
CitizenM will introduce its brand to Chicago with a newly constructed hotel that will be part of Sterling Bay’s mixed-use development at 300 North Michigan Ave., located between the Riverwalk and Millennium Park. The recently announced project, developed in partnership with Magellan Development Group, includes a 47-story tower with 289 residential units, 25,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 280 hotel rooms.
“Chicago has always been one the most important financial, entertainment and cultural capitals in the world, but in the past few years has also become one of the country’s largest tech hubs due to its incredible talent pool,” said Ernest Lee, CitizenM’s managing director and head of development & investments in North America. “As we continue to increase our brand awareness in the U.S., it’s important to us to have a presence in this critical business market.”
A subsidiary of CitizenM will acquire the hotel upon its completion, subject to the realization of certain construction and opening milestones. CitizenM Chicago Downtown will feature the hotel company’s signature interiors designed by Amsterdam-based design firm Concrete, a longtime partner of the brand, in conjunction with Chicago’s bKL, serving as lead architect of the mixed-use complex.
Additionally, the brand, in collaboration with developer Miami Worldcenter Associates, is breaking ground this week on the CitizenM hotel at Miami Worldcenter, a $4-billion, mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Miami.
The public groundbreaking will be celebrated on Thursday, November 21, with representatives from the owner, operator and developer citizenM, the master developer of the mixed-use campus Miami Worldcenter Associates, general contractor Suffolk Construction, and the architecture firm Gensler.
The 12-story, 351-room hotel at Miami Worldcenter will be located across the street from the new MiamiCentral terminal, the region’s first higher-speed train connecting Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, and adjacent to Miami Worldcenter’s pedestrian-only, open-air shopping promenade. Key attractions in the surrounding neighborhood include Museum Park, which is home to the Perez Art Museum Miami and the Frost Museum of Science, American Airlines Arena, and the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center.
“As a global owner-operator, we can appreciate how rare of an opportunity it is to be part a once-in-a-generation project like Miami Worldcenter—a true ‘city within a city’,” said Lee. “What Nitin Motwani and his team have been able to achieve thus far has been incredible and we’re excited to begin construction so we can bring CitizenM’s guests to this world-class destination.”
New Co-Living Project is Coming to NYC
Time Square Development Group and Time Square Construction Inc., each an independent business integrated into Tower Holdings Group, will partner on the development and construction of 1215 Fulton St., a new co-living residential and hotel development in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Time Square Development Group and London-based The Collective, a leader in co-living communities, purchased the 1215 Fulton St. property, as well as 10 Halsey St. and 16 Halsey St., earlier in 2019.
“I’m confident that by working together, our Time Square Development and Time Square Construction teams will bring the right balance of expertise to manage all phases of this project as efficiently as possible,” said Kevin O’Sullivan, CEO/president of Tower Holdings Group.
The new co-living residential and hotel development, which will consist of two 10-story buildings and one four-to-six-story building, will include 400 bedroom units, composed of two-bedroom units, co-living studios, three-bedroom units and hotel rooms. The 219,185-gross-sq.-ft. development will share a common cellar and ground floor plan connecting all three towers as well as theaters throughout, gym, yoga studio, restaurant and bar, as well as large roof amenity spaces that will offer views of New York City.
Phoenix Development Partners Plans Dual-Branded Hilton in Chicago
Phoenix Development Partners, as the lead sponsor, in partnership with Green Door Capital, Crowdstreet, Polaris and other minority investors, has acquired 226 West Jackson in Chicago, a 238,000-sq.-ft. historic office building. This property will be restored and transformed to become a 350-room dual-flag Hilton property (a 215-room Canopy by Hilton on the upper floors and a 135-room Hilton Garden Inn on the lower floors).
John Mangel, founder and CEO of Phoenix Development Partners commented that “the restored property will include a new 4,800-sq.-ft. rooftop restaurant, bar and meeting space, plus 2,100 sq. ft. of outdoor terraces offering sweeping views of the city.”
Centrally located in Chicago’s dominant West Loop neighborhood, this building is directly across the street from Willis Tower and a short walk to the Old Chicago Post Office, as well as BMO’s and Bank of America’s new headquarters buildings.
Willis Tower has invested over $500 million with a plan to improve lifestyle for tenants in the building and, specifically, to be an attraction for tourism in the city. The 300,000-sq.-ft. addition on the south side of the tower will offer restaurants and entertainment venues for public consumption and private events.
This property will serve a long list of corporate neighbors that include United Airlines, BMO, Bank of America, Walgreens, Uber, Facebook, Google, McDonalds, MillerCoors and Boeing, among many others.
“Given the strong performance of the West Loop Hospitality market, coupled with the opportunity to introduce these Hilton options at this central point in the CBD, we believe this is a significant opportunity and we will work with Hilton and Aimbridge Hospitality to bring a truly unique experience to Chicago,” said Michael Schweitzer, Phoenix VP of operations.
226 W. Jackson Boulevard is the former corporate headquarters of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Building and, more recently, the City Colleges of Chicago. The property will be redeveloped into a unique hotel offering that combines modern amenities with an homage to its historic past.
The project is slated to be completed in the spring of 2021. Owners representation for Phoenix will be Daccord, architectural services are provided by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, and interior design services are provided by Anderson Miller and Hospitality Furnishing & Design. Senior Loan financing was provided by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs and arranged by Draper and Kramer Incorporated, and Historic Tax Credit investment was secured with Twain Financial Partners.
The hotel will be managed by Aimbridge Hospitality. This is the third property Aimbridge manages for Phoenix.