Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Hospitality | April 5, 2021

Spain’s Riu Family Plans Streeterville Hotel Aimed at Wealthy International Travelers

A venture of RIU Hotels & Resorts plans to develop a 388-key hotel at 150 E. Ontario St. in Streeterville, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. The Prime Group’s Michael Reschke told Crain’s that RIU had hired him to develop the building, expected to cost somewhere under $200 million.

Spain’s Riu family hopes to break ground this summer. It plans to fund the project, known as the RIU Grand Plaza Hotel, with cash rather than line up a construction loan, which might be difficult to obtain while the pandemic impacts the lodging market, Crain’s reported.

Reschke said RIU is primarily targeting wealthy international travelers that tend to stay at multiple RIU hotels during visits to the U.S.

“They don’t care about local demand,” Reschke said. “The beauty is RIU will bring most of the guests to this hotel through their own travel network—international tourists that stay longer and spend more money.”

Rendering courtesy of Lucien LaGrange Studio.

Connect

Inside The Story

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).