2-May-16 – Navy Pier is getting its first hotel, the mayor’s office announced on Sunday.

The $90 million, 200-room hotel will target people attending events at Navy Pier, in Chicago on business, “or just looking to spend extended leisure time at one of the Midwest’s most popular locations.”

Five stories tall, the hotel will be built above existing terraces – and on top of an existing structure – located toward the east end of Navy Pier and on the west side of Festival Hall, the pier’s main exhibition space.

(Left) East end of Navy Pier as it looked on October 22, 2011.

“Navy Pier is Chicago’s front door,” says Mayor Rahm Emanuel, “serving as a beacon to visitors and one of our city’s great economic and cultural sites. This new hotel will continue transforming it into a one-of-a-kind destination that will draw even more visitors from across the region and throughout the world.”

Emanuel called the hotel “a key part” in the city’s goal of 55 million visitors annually by 2020. Currently, eight million people visit Navy Pier each year, according to the city, making it “the top-attended leisure destination in the Midwest.”

The preliminary design of the hotel is by Jackie Koo, the architect who designed theWit hotel in the Loop. Each guest room will have a balcony and a bay window.

Construction will begin next year and be complete sometime in the last half of 2018. Emanuel says the project will create 300 construction jobs, 200 permanent jobs, and the $90 million cost will not be paid by taxpayers.

First Hospitality Group will develop and operate the hotel. The hotel brand has not yet been determined.

“This property will be incredibly special in terms of both amenities and community impact,” says Robert Habeeb (right), president and CEO of First Hospitality Group. “The creation of this hip new hotel on one of Chicago’s most famous landmarks is a revolutionary development for the city and FHG is honored to be a part of it.”

Based in Chicago, First Hospital Group manages 43 properties, including The Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown on West Illinois Street in River North and The Hampton Inn Majestic on West Monroe Street in the Loop.

The new hotel is part of a “re-imagination” of Navy Pier, which opened to the public on July 15, 1916.

(Left) View hotel guests will have from the east end of Navy Pier, looking southwest across Lake Michigan toward downtown Chicago (2005 photo).