150 E. Ontario lands full building permit

A full building permit has been issued for the RIU Plaza Hotel Chicago at 150 E. Ontario. Vacant for more than ten years, the project site is an infill site off of N Michigan Avenue. Planned by The Prime Group, the midblock location is bound by two adjacent buildings spanning the block between N Michigan Avenue and N St. Clair Street. 

Designed by Lucien LaGrange Studio, the new building will be a 28-story hotel tower for Spanish hotel chain RIU Hotels and Resorts. Rising 345 feet, the building will hold 388 hotel rooms with zero parking spaces provided. The ground floor will hold the main lobby with a small coffee shop included, while the second floor will host a breakfast dining room for guests connected to the lobby via an ornamental stair.

Built up to the property line against the neighboring buildings, the tower’s front facade will be broken into three sections with the middle section protruding slightly to distinguish the sections. The entry facade will be finished with a large opening achieved by a complex structural transfer to create a high level of transparency along the sidewalk. 

As part of the approval process, the developers paid $2.9 million into the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and rezoned the site to a Planned Development. The project was originally planned for a 22-23 month construction timeline when it was supposed to break ground last summer. With foundation work already underway, the project is likely looking at a late summer 2024 opening. W.E. O’Neil is serving as the general contractor for the project.