Plans to expand Chicago's McCormick Place convention center will include a 1,200-room "headquarters" hotel, the mayor announced Tuesday.
The front of the hotel would stretch to the corner of South Michigan Avenue and East Cermak Road and extend east toward Lake Michigan. It will connect to McCormick Place via a skybridge.
McCormick Place hosts the annual Chicago Auto Show among multiple other trade shows, as well as meetings that included the NATO Summit last May. The hotel also will host large groups events in conjunction with the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Emanuel said.
Emanuel's office said the $400 million hotel would create 2,500 construction jobs and 500 permanent local jobs. He said the hotel would help attract 15 new mid-market events each year and 80,000 new attendees.
“Building a headquarters hotel near McCormick Place will greatly impact Chicago’s local economy while fostering massive jobs growth in the City,” Emanuel said. "I am thrilled that this hotel will take McCormick Place and Chicago’s convention and trade show experience to the next level.”
"McCormick Place is already a tremendous asset for our convention industry and an economic engine for all of Illinois,” Gov. Pat Quinn said. “This new hotel will help us make the case why our state should be the first choice of any show anywhere.”
