The Gray Hotel

Located at 39 South LaSalle, the new Kimpton property The Gray will bring new life to the former New York Life Insurance Building, which was considered one of Chicago’s most endangered buildings by Preservation Chicago. Originally constructed around 1893, with additions in 1898 and 1903, the building is one of the earliest examples of steel framed buildings in the Chicago area.

The existing 14-story office building has been converted into a 294-room boutique hotel with restaurant and bar, 9,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space on upper floors, and a 5,000-square-foot bar with an overhead retracting skylight located on the uppermost floor. Extensive efforts have been made to restore the original terra cotta and granite façade as well as the 2-story marble-clad lobby area located at the building’s LaSalle Street entry.

McHugh has worked with owner, Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group on a number of projects in downtown Chicago including Hotel Allegro, Hotel Monaco, and Hotel Palomar.