CHICAGO — McHugh Construction has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of a 191-room, 14-story hotel in Chicago. The property opened in June as L7 Chicago and marks the first L7-branded property in North America from South Korea-based Lotte Hotels & Resorts. McHugh also completed the build-out of Perilla Korean American Steakhouse, the hotel’s anchor restaurant on the ground floor, as well as a new lobby.
In late August 2023, McHugh began demolition of the restaurant and lobby of the former Kimpton Hotel Monaco at 225 N. Wabash Ave. and erected temporary walls so that the hotel remained in operation throughout the renovation. McHugh started renovating the top floor in November and worked its way down one floor at a time. The project included new carpet, wall coverings, finishes and furniture for hotel rooms, suites and corridors; reupholstered window seats in each room; and new tiles on the wall alongside each guest room door. The project team included interior designer AvroKo and Grec Architects.
Located steps from the Chicago Riverwalk and the Magnificent Mile, the building was originally constructed in 1912 and served as a hat factory and headquarters of D.B. Fisk Co., the largest wholesale millinery in the country until 1932. The property was converted to the Oxford House Hotel in the 1950s. McHugh served as general contractor of the hotel’s conversion to Hotel Monaco shortly after Kimpton acquired the building in 1999. McHugh also performed a refresh of the guest rooms in 2011. Lotte acquired the asset in 2022.