After almost 20 years of vacancy, the Cook County Hospital in Chicago will be put to use once again. A $150 million adaptive reuse project restored the historic, 106-year-old hospital, which has become a combined Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotel, as well as medical offices, a museum, a food hall and more. While the opening is multi-phased, the hotels are scheduled to open in late July.
“We are excited to introduce the first combined Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels to the Chicago area, while also paying homage to such an incredible landmark,” says general manager Nilesh Pandey.
Together, the Hyatts will offer 103 guest rooms and 107 apartment-style suites, as well as a 24-hour fitness center and 4,000 square feet of meeting space. Aimbridge Hospitality will operate the hotels.
The public spaces in the hotel will reflect the Beaux-Arts classical style architecture of the original Cook County Hospital. Although the interior of the building was mostly gutted, the surgical theaters on the eighth floor were left intact, as well as the original marble stone staircase, restored in the double-height hotel lobby. On the exterior, new windows and 4,160 new pieces of terra-cotta ornamentation were $18 million of the project’s budget.
The Cook County Hospital is on the National Register of Historic Places, as it held the world’s first blood bank. It’s located near the University of Illinois Chicago and Rush University. While the hotels, Hyatt Place Chicago Medical/University District and Hyatt House Chicago Medical/University District, will open in late July, Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall, the museum and other amenities in the building are slated for an August opening.
