The Waldorf Astoria Chicago, formerly the Elysian Hotel Chicago, is a

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

located at 11 East Walton Street in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

History

Originally developed as The Elysian, the project was approved in June 2005; its construction took place from 2006 until 2009. The 60 story hotel was designed by Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange and was developed by David Pisor. The project consists of two main parts: a 188-room hotel and 51 condominiums above (estimated at $280 million combined). In 2009, the condominiums were valued between $2.5 and $8.5 million. The hotel opened in February 2009. In keeping with the tradition of the Gold Coast neighborhood, the entrance of the project is a

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

courtyard. Its design emulates the grand hotels of Paris in the 1920s, complete with colonnades, spires, and a motor court. The hotel was reported to have failed to make a

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...

in its first two years and in September 2011, it was announced that its owner, Jones Lang LaSalle, was looking to sell after Pisor's equity partner chose to remove itself from the hotel business, rather than developing the Elysian into a hotel brand as had been originally envisioned. 2015 Chicago 43

By November 2011, it was announced that an investment group and

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

would be purchasing the Elysian and converting it to a

Waldorf Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

. A Waldorf Astoria had been planned as part of an international expansion in 2007, but failed to take off due to the economy in 2008. Although a sales price was not disclosed, it is believed that it was purchased for $95 million, which would put it at a per room price of $505,000. It was renamed the Waldorf Astoria Chicago on February 1, 2012, although nearly all of the hotel remained the same. In June 2015, it was reported that

Sam Zell Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He has ...

of Equity Group Investments had reached an agreement to sell the hotel for $113 million to a group led by hotel investor Laurence Geller (who previously founded

Strategic Hotels & Resorts Strategic Hotels & Resorts is an American REIT in the hospitality industry. It was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BEE. The company owns 18 luxury hotels, 17 of which are located in the United States and one of which is in German ...

) and including the real estate arm of Chinese manufacturer

Wanxiang Group Wanxiang Group Corporation () is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Its automotive components subsidiary (Wangxiang Qiaochao) is the larg ...

Awards and honors

As Elysian Hotel Chicago, it was named

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...

's top hotel in the United States in 2011. It ranked first in the ''

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation ownershi ...

'' 2012 World's Best Awards readers' survey and is a 2013 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award recipient.

Location

The Waldorf Astoria Chicago is located in the

, a district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also close to Oak Street, which is known for its boutiques, high end jewelry stores, and spas, as well as State Street and Rush Street. The latter is known for its night life. Its street level

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

tenants are

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

and Saint Laurent.

References

External links

Waldorf Astoria Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldorf Astoria Chicago Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels Skyscraper hotels in Chicago Condo hotels in the United States Residential condominiums in Chicago Residential skyscrapers in Chicago Residential buildings completed in 2010 New Classical architecture 2010 establishments in Illinois

History

Awards and honors

Location

See also

References

External links