New hotel partner brings name change to Vista Tower

The 101-story building becomes the St. Regis Chicago as the developer works to ensure the building’s high-end appeal.

SHARE New hotel partner brings name change to Vista Tower
The 101-story tower that’s now called the St. Regis Chicago.

The 101-story tower that’s now called the St. Regis Chicago.

Magellan Development Group

The high-stakes name game for Chicago skyscrapers continues. In the city of the Sears — er, Willis — Tower and the former John Hancock Center, now known just as 875 North Michigan Avenue until a different sponsor comes along, there is a new name for Vista Tower, the city’s third-tallest building.

The 101-story luxury building due to get its first residents next month is now called the St. Regis Chicago. The owner, Magellan Development Group, announced the change Wednesday because it has a deal with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, a premium brand of the Marriott chain, to operate the property’s hotel and provide butler service to condo owners.

The agreement replaces a deal with China’s Wanda Hotel Development, which backed out and sold its 90% stake in the tower to Magellan for $270 million. The withdrawal caused a couple of condo buyers to try to cancel multi-million-dollar purchases with Magellan, arguing Wanda’s absence made the project less attractive. The developer changed what it originally called the Wanda Vista Tower to simply Vista Tower.

Magellan’s announcement emphasized that St. Regis will ensure the Jeanne Gang-designed building will be an ultra-premium destination. It also said Chicago-based Alinea Group will provide fine dining in the tower.

“We truly thank and appreciate our buyers for their continuous support and faith in Magellan to deliver a world-class product,” said David Carlins, the firm’s CEO. He also mentioned financial backing from J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The entire building at 363 E. Wacker Drive in Lakeshore East downtown is due to be finished in the third quarter of 2021. Magellan is betting the coronavirus will have subsided by then, and demand for hotel rooms and high-end condos will rebound.

Peter Weidman, managing director in the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, called its involvement “a vote of confidence in Chicago’s real estate market and a true testament to our longstanding relationship with the Magellan Development team.”

The hotel in the St. Regis Chicago will have 191 rooms and there will be 393 condos. Magellan said the condos are priced from $1 million to $18.5 million.

The Latest
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.
The way inflation is measured masks certain costs that add to the prices that consumers pay every day. Not surprisingly, higher costs mean lower consumer confidence, no matter what Americans are told about an improving economy.
With Easter around the corner, chocolate makers and food businesses are feeling the impact of soaring global cocoa prices and it’s also hitting consumers.