The Yo spent lunch with the Friends of Downtown at its monthly “brown bag luncheon,” where we were treated to a sneak peek at plans for the renovated Blackstone Hotel in the South Loop (sadly, though, we weren’t treated to lunch). The brick and terra cotta facade of the ornate Beaux Arts-style building, which was completed in 1910 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is currently getting a painstaking restoration, including new windows and a new roof.
Developer Sage Hospitality Resources and the ubiquitous Lucien Lagrange Architects are reconfiguring the interior with 332 guest rooms, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, retail space and a spot for a Spanish tapas restaurant. Several historical areas of the building– including the lobby, the crystal ballroom, the art hall and the suites that hosted every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Nixon (and Carter)– will also be preserved. Some swank new suites will also be built under the signature mansard cap, viewable here.
Sage plans to open The Blackstone under the Renaissance flag in the fall of 2007. The company acquired the property from Maharishi Royal Residences, LLC after Maharishi’s unsuccessful attempt at converting the building into $1,000-per-square-foot condos in the early 2000s.
