An affiliate of Birmingham, Mich.-based Accelerated Assets has acquired the flagship Virgin Hotels Chicago for nearly $77.4 million in late June. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the entity bought the historic 26-story building from a joint venture of Miami-based Lionstone Development and Virgin Hotels. JLL’s Adam McGaughy and John Nugent represented the sellers.
Lionstone and Virgin opened the property 10 years ago as the brand’s debut, having acquired the structure—formerly the Old Dearborn Bank—for $14.8 million in 2011 and spent a further $50 million on converting the building into a hotel. The property was later refinanced in early 2020 with a $37 million loan from Prime Finance Partners.
A Virgin Hotels spokesman confirmed to Crain's in a statement that the hotel had been sold and further said that a Virgin entity “will continue to manage the hotel under the Virgin Hotels brand.”
Windy City Appeal
Chicago’s hospitality scene has been solid in recent months, with upscale openings and transactions continuing through the first half of the year. In June, the renovated Talbott hotel reopened as part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection following a three-year, multiphase renovation to its guestrooms, public areas and event spaces. And in May, Itasca, Ill.-based NexGen Hotels acquired the Claridge House Chicago hotel in the city’s Gold Coast Historic District and plans to add the hotel to the Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
Also in May, Cvent announced its 2025 rankings of Top North American Meeting Destinations, with Chicago rising three spots from last year to claim the third most popular city in the country, behind only Orlando and Las Vegas.
As Richard Mandigo, the Midwest hotels advisory expert in the CBRE Hotels Valuation & Advisory group, noted earlier this year, Chicago has fewer luxury rooms than similarly sized cities, and lacks the ultra-luxury appeal of destination markets, which drive rates upwards. For 2025, CBRE expects only modest gains in occupancy and average daily rates, increasing revenue per available room 1.6 percent year over year.