Virgin Hotels Chicago
| Virgin Hotels Chicago | |
|---|---|
Virgin Hotels Chicago entrance
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| Former names | Old Dearborn Bank Building |
| Alternative names | 203 North Wabash Avenue 54 East Lake Street |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Location | 203 North Wabash, Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°53′10″N 87°37′34″W / 41.8861°N 87.6260°WCoordinates: 41°53′10″N 87°37′34″W / 41.8861°N 87.6260°W |
| Completed | 1928 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Rapp and Rapp |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Booth Hansen |
| Designated | June 4, 2003 |
The Virgin Hotels Chicago (formerly Old Dearborn Bank Building or 203 North Wabash Avenue) is a historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, that has been converted from use as an office building to use as a hotel run via a mobile app based business model. The 250-room hotel is the first of Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels brand boutique hotels geared toward the female business traveller.
Situated at the intersection of East Lake Street and North Wabash Avenue, the Old Dearborn Bank Building was constructed between 1926 and 1928 with ornate medieval and mythological terra-cotta decoration that was typical of movie palaces that were its contemporaries. The neoclassical architecture designed building is one of only two Rapp and Rapp buildings designed as an office building. Soon after the Old Dearborn Bank opened in 1928, it was acquired and its parent company was liquidated in the United States' Great Depression. The building, which is 27 stories high, was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 4, 2003. The 300-foot (91.4 m) light brown brick building with a steel structure includes 25 floors above ground and two below.
The owners of the building defaulted on a $9 million loan from John Hancock Life Insurance resulting in the acquisition of the loan (and thus the property) for an undisclosed amount by Urban Street Properties LLC in April 2010. The building had been acquired by the previous owners for $9.5 million in 2001.
On October 24, 2011, Virgin Hotels, part of Virgin Group, purchased the building with the aim of opening it as their first hotel in 2013 with approximately 250 rooms. The transaction was an all-cash deal that was valued at about $14 million. The company hired The John Buck Company to renovate the building. The lead architect for the renovation was Booth Hansen. The co-designers for the interior renovation were Rockwell Group Europe and Virgin Hotels' in-house design team. The purchase was part of Virgin Hotels' 2010 business plan to acquire distressed properties in North America cheaply during the property downturn.
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