First Hospitality JV to Redevelop Chicago’s Famed Purple Hotel

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

First Hospitality Group, Inc. has entered into a joint venture with North Capital Group, L.L.C., to reinvigorate Chicago’s iconic Purple Hotel into the new SpringHill Suites Lincolnwood.

The property was once home to the Pritzker family’s first Hyatt in Chicago. FHG is considered a sub-developer of the hotel portion of Shoppes at Lincoln Pointe, a mixed-use development that North Capital Group is developing.

“It’s a great Chicago submarket and we believe that area needs a hotel,” Robert Habeeb, First Hospitality Group’s president & COO, told Commercial Property Executive. “We have been working on the site for a couple of years now. The original idea was to restore the Purple Hotel, which some people saw as an icon and some people saw as an eye-soar.”

Ultimately, the decision was made to create what would become the epicenter of town, combined with the North Capital Group’s development of a retail and restaurant complex.

Under FHG’s management, the newest SpringHill Suites will consist of five floors and feature 160 guest rooms, 4,000 square-feet of banquet space and 1,000 square-feet of meeting space.

“Our hotels blanket Chicago, it’s one of our core markets and is home base to us,” Habeeb said. “Our strategy is to stay with the markets and brands we know, so we generally stay in the Midwest and this hotel is a great fit for us.”

The hotel is in close proximity to downtown Chicago, O’Hare airport, Loyola University and Northeastern Illinois University.

This is FHG’s first joint venture with North Capital Group, and Habeeb said the two companies share a common vision to do a high-quality development on the site, and take the complex beyond the ordinary.

The Shoppes at Lincoln Pointe will also include some retail, restaurants, professional offices and a high-end grocery store.

NORR Illinois, Inc., will serve as the hotel’s architect. The project is slated to open in fall of 2015.