Old Dearborn Bank Building Downtown To Become Virgin Hotel
CHICAGO (CBS) -- You know Virgin for everything from music to air travel, and soon, you'll find the name on a new downtown hotel.
The historic Old Dearborn Bank building has been purchased by Virgin Hotels, a new four-star lifestyle hotel brand. The building at 203 N. Wabash Ave. will be reopened as Virgin Hotel Chicago in the fall of 2013.
The new hotel will have 250 rooms, along with meeting spaces, restaurants and lounges.
"Chicago is a top destination for pleasure and business, with all the qualities we look for in Virgin Hotels locations: it's economically vibrant, culturally exciting, and a sports and entertainment hub," Virgin Group leisure and hospitality managing partner Anthony Marino said in a news release. "But it also has a world-renowned architectural heritage, and we are eager to contribute to its continued acclaim."
The Old Dearborn Bank building was one of only two office towers designed by C.W. and George L. Rapp, the same architects who were behind early 20th century movie palaces such as the Chicago and Uptown theaters.
The building features an ornate exterior reminiscent of an old-fashioned theater, terra cotta ornamentation depicting medieval and mythological figures.
The building was completed in 1928 and designated a Chicago city landmark in 2003.
