CHICAGO- Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, a Hong Kong-based luxury hotel chain, will open its first U.S. property in a planned 90-story Chicago skyscraper in 2009.
The 200-room hotel will occupy floors 12 through 27 of Waterview Tower, at 111 W. Wacker Drive, which, if built, would be the city's fifth-tallest building.
Hotel plans call for three restaurants, a full-service spa, a health club, and room amenities such as plasma-screen televisions, butler service and lake, river and skyline views.
"We took great care to find the very best location for our American debut, and we believe Waterview Tower is the perfect launching pad for our brand within the U.S.," Shangri-La CEO Giovanni Angelini said in a statement. "We are excited that our signature style of Asian hospitality will be introduced to America in Chicago."
The company currently manages 48 hotels, and it has more than 30 projects under development in Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Oman, the Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. It says it is in "advanced negotiations" to open hotels in other major North American cities, according to a report in Crain's Chicago Business.
The tower's developer, a company affiliated with Chicago-based Teng & Associates Inc., plans to sell off the individual hotel rooms as condominiums. Sales will start this week, said Ivan Dvorak,CEO of Waterview LLC, the developer.
Buyers already have signed contracts for 55% of the 233 residential condos on the building's upper floors, he said. The developer also is talking with lenders about a construction loan for the project.
"We are very close" to securing financing, Dvorak said.

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