Next in line for a piece of Chicago: The Ace Hotel Group, which at last confirmed that its next property will open this fall in the city’s Fulton Market District, just across from Google’s Midwest headquarters. A burgeoning neighborhood with a strong concentration of the city’s best new restaurants, Fulton Market has also been surprisingly slow to catch on to Chicago’s hotel explosion, with only the opening of Soho House Chicago happening there since 2014. It’s also no surprise that an Ace is breaking the dry spell, given the brand’s deft hand at zeroing in on emerging destinations.
That’s all to say that the opening of Ace Hotel Chicago is going to be a big deal. The Portland-based company says the new hotel will have 159 rooms across three towers, the tallest at seven stories. Rooms starting around $219 a night will fall into Ace’s usual nomenclature (small, medium, double, large) and include nine suites. Small rooms will be roughly 275 square feet, medium rooms approximately 290, and suites will range from 650-800 square feet.
Expect Ace’s signature rough-hewn high style, but picture it alongside the influences of iconic Chicago design heroes like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. New images of a model room with marble walls and glass tabletops suggest not just a nod to the city’s modernist roots but also, perhaps, a slightly more polished Ace hotel. Both rooms and event spaces will also pull in pieces made by local artists.
How Ace Hotel Is Redefining Cities Across the U.S.
Another possible departure from other Ace hotels is a high number of event spaces—seven in all—that will span multiple levels of the hotel. They include a ground-floor gallery, fifth-floor terrace with a sculpture garden and outdoor seating, and a seventh-floor rooftop bar with both indoor and outdoor spaces. All of these spots are open to locals and guests alike, a testament to the brand’s focus on inclusive gathering spaces.
In addition to the rooftop bar, a ground-floor restaurant, large lobby bar, and café by Stumptown Coffee Roasters are planned for the Chicago outpost—consequently, the first in the Midwest. For the restaurant, expect more of the good stuff happening at Ace’s most recent openings (New Orleans and Pittsburgh), with restaurants from both hotels nominated for Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants of 2016. A rep for the brand says that while they haven’t yet tapped a partner for Chicago’s restaurant and rooftop bar, they’re setting their sights on a notable regional chef.