The Hargrove — historic hotel adaptive reuse
Turning a Beaux-Arts office block in Chicago into a 124-room boutique hotel and retaining its landmark-designated exterior. — Chicago, IL, 2024.
Rooms completed
Landmark preserved
Hard deadline met
Historic fabric retained
The challenge
The conditions of Chicago Landmarks Commission, Acme panel remediation on 35% of the building and a hard opening date to a large citywide convention.
Preservation of original terracotta fronts and bronze interior lobby information by commission.
The building contained asbestos on the ceiling in the voids of 35 percent.
Opening is pegged to the annual hospitality industry convention of Chicago.
Our approach
The team had a historic preservation architect who joined the team at pre-construction stage. ACM abatement was a parallel program in which it used sealed containment zones, hence it did not hold back structural or MEP works. The Landmarks Commission had to approve all the exterior repair materials prior to being procured.
The outcome
The Hargrove went online on the date it was meant to be opened to good media and tourist reception. Eighty four percent of historic original fabric was preserved – far more than the Commission-established 70 percent. In 2024 it was awarded an AIA Illinois Preservation Honor Award.
“We handed them a century-old puzzle. They gave us back a world-class hotel.”
— Marco Ferretti, Owner — Hargrove Hospitality