(Left) Rendering of what the 22-story addition next to the London Guarantee Building will look like. Click on images to view larger versions.

12-Feb-15 – “LondonHouse” will be the name of the hotel being constructed at Michigan Avenue & Wacker Drive and it will open in spring 2016.

Oxford Capital Group, LLC, owner, developer, and manager of the hotel, made the announcement on Thursday.

The “luxury lifestyle hotel” will include a 22-story addition Oxford describes as an “architecturally synchronized Modernist glass tower.” Built on a former parking lot, it will account for 80 of the hotel’s 425 rooms.

The new tower on Wacker Drive will be the main entrance to the hotel. An arrival lobby will lead to a larger lobby and bar on the second floor. The hotel will include two floors of “upscale retail,” 25,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa, and a fitness center.

On top of the original building, the cupola will be converted to rooftop dining and outdoor event space.

The $84.1 million renovation of the 91-year-old London Guarantee Building has been in progress since summer 2013. The building permit for the addition was issued on December 23, 2014.

(Right) LondonHouse construction as of Thursday afternoon. The building’s cupola is visible at upper left.

The London Guarantee Building once had a jazz club called London House. Oxford’s CEO, John Rutledge, says the name “is the perfect choice for this most unique hotel.”

Goettsch Partners is the architectural firm. The interior design by Simeone Deary Design Group, says Oxford, “speaks to the building’s roots with the use of historic detail, while adopting the progressive thinking of the 1920s to create modern and chic accents.”

The guestroom design will be “clean, sleek, and elegant.” Modern furniture with lavish upholstering will pay “homage to the opulence of the 1920s.”

LondonHouse is Oxford’s 11th hotel project in the Chicago area. The real estate firm also developed The Langham, Hotel Cass, Hotel Felix, and The Godfrey hotels in River North.

With investment advisors Angelo, Gordon & Co., Oxford bought The London Guarantee Building on July 29, 2013, reportedly paying $57 million.