User:Mbrazausky/Best Western River North Hotel

Best Western River North Hotel Best Western River North Hotel is a family owned hotel located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The hotel is part of the world wide Best Western chain. It is located at the cross streets of Ohio & Lasalle, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. Originally built as a cold storage warehouse at the start of the 20th Century, the building was later renovated and developed into a 150 room hotel. The Best Western River North Hotel celebrated it's grand opening on April 6th, 1986.

History
The main tower of the Best Western River North Hotel was built in the early 1900's with the original purpose of being a cold storage warehouse. The building itself was designed by Swedish-born architect Lawrence Gustav Hallberg. Hallberg specialized in reinforced concrete warehouses and factories. He designed several other buildings in the River North area of Chicago, including the former Raleigh Hotel located at 650 N Dearborn and the structure on 620 N Lasalle that currently houses the anchor store for Sports Authority. Hallberg's crowning achievement can be seen in his 1914 building located at 2545 W Diversey. Originally, the building was occupied by the Vassar Swiss Underwear Company and included a four storey tower built to house a gravity water tank. In 2008, the city of Chicago designated Hallberg's structure on Diversey a Chicago Historic Landmark. After several years as an empty warehouse, the building at 125 W Ohio was purchased and renovated into the Travelodge Hotel of Chicago in the mid 1950's. Part of the renovation included adding a second building to the original. Today, it exists as the 'east' and 'west' wings, which are joined only by the 4th floor. However, most of the original reinforced concrete, whose earliest purpose served as a cold storage warehouse, was left in tact. This coupled with the peculiarity of the 2 buildings being connected by only the 4th floor, present a unique layout of the two towers. In 1982 the Travelodge Hotel closed its doors. Then in 1986, the property was bought by Malisoff Hotel Partnerships, a developer team based in Chicago. Prior to opening, Malisoff Hotel Partnerships completed a $2 million dollar renovation of the property. The newly renovated hotel opened on April 6, 1986 as the Best Western River North Hotel.

Location
The Best Western River North Hotel lists it's address as 125 W Ohio St. It is bordered by Ohio St to the north, Lasalle St to the west and Clark St to the east. This location puts the hotel in the center of the River North Gallery District known for it's high concentration of art galleries since the 1980's. In recent times, the River North neighborhood has seen a revitzalization of it's restaurant and night life scenes. Several new high profile restaurants and hotels have opened in recent years, including Rockit Bar & Grill, Rick Bayless's Xoco and the impressive Trump International Hotel & Tower, garnering the area with even more prestige and notability.