After three years of planning and development, The Robey Hotel opened on November 30th. Designed by Perkins, Chatten & Hammond and completed in 1927, the 12-story Northwest Tower has visually dominated the six corner intersection of Milwaukee, North and Damen ever since. The Robey is a reference to Damen Avenue’s original name.
Developed by Convexity Properties and operated by Grupo Habita, the boutique hotel offers 69 unique guest rooms, a restaurant café, and a rooftop lounge with spectacular unobstructed views of the Chicago skyline. The adjacent historic, 27,000-square-foot, five-story industrial building Hollander Fireproof Warehouse was also renovated into a highly-innovative, next-generation hostel with rooftop swimming pool.
Great care was taken to embrace the historic interior and exterior elements, including the dark green marble and brass lobby, and the highly decorative rooftop spire.
This is another outstanding example of a historic office building’s adaptive reuse into a boutique hotel in which the historic building provided outstanding opportunities for creativity, authenticity and uniqueness.
Preservation Chicago has long advocated for the preservation of the Northwest Tower and the Milwaukee Avenue Historic Landmark District. At the invitation of the ownership, Preservation Chicago’s Ward Miller, provided historic lectures regarding the building and neighborhood during the pre-opening events.
Suggested Reading
Take a tour through Wicker Park’s new Robey Hotel, AJ LaTrace, Curbed Chicago, 11/2916 Great Photos!