Status Update: Hotel Palomar Chicago

The signs for the new Hotel Paolmar Chicago (505 North State Street) are up, but you may have missed them amid the construction mayhem that is the CTA's Grand subway station redevelopment.  The lobby is still a work in progress, but the outside looks pretty nice.  The company's web site won't take reservations before April 8, 2010 so it looks like we have an idea when it will open.

Status Update: Hotel Palomar Chicago

The new Hotel Palomar Chicago (505 North State Street) is progressing nicely, and is already taking reservations for dates starting May 1, 2010.  And while it's quite a handsome building, it's a shame that we lost that little park when there are three surface parking lots within 300 feet of this project.

Status Update: The Building That Ate AMA Park

Sure, AMA Park wasn't an official park, but it was a nice patch of green in an area of the city that desperately needs some breathing room.  But there's no point is crying over it any longer, since this is the future.

"This" is the Hotel Palomar Chicago (505 North State Street), brought to us by the Kimpton Group -- the same people doing (IMHO) a great job with the Hotel Monaco, Hotel Allegro, and the Hotel Burnham.  This is Kimpton's first hotel in Chicago that isn't built into an existing historic building.

As you can see, the new building just inches from the beloved AMA Building (the striped building with the big hole in the top at 515 North State Street) is moving along quickly.  There's already glazing on the lower floors so interior work can proceed in defiance of the winter winds.

When completed, the building designed by John Buck Company will be 380 feet tall, have 36 stories, and boast 259 rooms.  That means it will be about 60 feet taller than the AMA Building.  It also means that some of the rooms should have a view right through the hole in the AMA Building.  Now that's a postcard I can't wait to see.

Progress Report:

There's something about walking around Chicago when it's snowing.  It just seems right.  In winter we like to walk in the snow.  In the summer, we like to walk down steamy alleys.  What gives?

Back on topic: the latest round of snowycam pictures shows the progress of the Hotel Palomar at 505 North State Street.  To us it looks like it's up to about the 17th story, and chugging along toward its goal of 36.

As much as we're fans of density in River North, it's a shame that the old park is gone.  Not many people used it, but it was nice to see a patch of green in the area, especially considering the number of surface parking lots just begging for vertical development.