Lowe Enterprises Investors Acquire Affinia Chicago Hotel

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The 28-story Affinia Chicago Hotel has been acquired by Lowe Enterprises Investors on behalf of an investment client. The seller, Denihan Hospitality Group, was represented by Eastdil Secured. Lowe Enterprises Investors represented itself in the transaction.

Hotel management will be taken over by Destination Hotels & Resorts—an affiliate of Lowe Enterprises Investors—and will be rebranded as MileNorth, a Chicago Hotel.

Located at 166 E. Superior Street in the heart of downtown Chicago, the 213-room hotel is steps away from the Magnificent Mile shopping district and three miles from the convention center.

Bleecker Seaman, co-CEO of Lowe Enterprises Investors, said MileNorth was recently completely renovated—permitting the company to concentrate its resources on “enhancing the property’s value by repositioning it as an independent boutique hotel.” MileNorth features 213 guestrooms, around 3,000 square feet of meeting space, a rooftop bar and a ground floor restaurant.

Lowe Enterprises Investors has been responsible for the investment of $6 billion in real estate assets since its inception in the late 1980s. In the Chicago area, the firm currently operates Orrington Office Plaza in Evanston, 8501 West Higgins in Chicago and the Embassy Suites Chicago-North Shore Deerfield on behalf of pension fund clients. As far as Illinois hotel properties go, the firm has acquired and sold on behalf of its clients the Doubletree Rosemont O’Hare, the Rosemont Suites Hotel, the Oakbrook Hills Hotel and the Crowne Plaza Springfield.

Senior vice president of acquisitions for Lowe Hospitality Group, Mike Everett, said the team has focused on the Downtown Chicago submarket and is expecting significant growth in the area in the coming years.

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