BDC Network: Platinum Award for McCormick Square Marriott Marquis and Wintrust Arena

For anyone who has attended a trade show or industry event at Chicago’s massive McCormick Place—the nation’s largest convention center complex—a memorable moment might have been the frightening sight of the taxi line at the end of the day’s events. Walking anywhere in the South Loop neighborhood—to find a restaurant, head back to the hotel to freshen up, meet colleagues for a drink—meant trading in those dress shoes for a pair of cross trainers, because you were in for a trek. The only other option—before Uber and Lyft, of course—was waiting 45 minutes to an hour in a taxi line that regularly stretched a football field or longer during peak times.

In recent years, the city has invested heavily to inject life into the convention center district. The South Loop is booming, and the area immediately surrounding McCormick Place, known as McCormick Square, is finally starting to turn the corner. It’s common to see groups of convention-goers walking to nearby restaurants, hotels, and other amenities. And that dreadful taxi line? It’s a fraction of the size these days (thank you, Uber and Lyft!).

The city’s latest investment in McCormick Square is perhaps its most audacious move yet: a $500 million sports and hotel complex a block west of the convention center. The project, more than four years in the making, adds a much-needed second major hotel to the neighborhood and a 10,387-seat arena for DePaul University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and the city’s WNBA team, the Chicago Sky.

The 40-story, 1.2 million-sf Marriott Marquis Chicago includes 1,205 guest rooms and suites and numerous amenities: below-grade parking, retail space, banquet and meeting rooms, ballrooms, a fitness center, and a restaurant and bar. It brings another walkable urban experience to the neighborhood.

As part of the hotel construction project, the team renovated the historic 1912 American Book Company building, which was once threatened with demolition. The five-story industrial structure is connected to the hotel and houses meeting room spaces and back-of-house areas.

A pedestrian bridge links the hotel to the 300,000-sf Wintrust Arena. Designed for sports, concerts, and other entertainment events, the arena features 22 suites, 479 club seats, team and support service spaces, broadcast facilities, and food and beverage concessions. It is wrapped in glass and translucent materials to activate the streetscape and to bring light deep into the interior spaces.

The project team worked closely with the surrounding neighborhoods and local community to leave a lasting impact beyond the added revenue and foot traffic from these new venues.

When the local city official, Alderman Pat Dowell, expressed the need for more open space in the area for recreation for local families, the team delivered a pocket park just north of the Marriott Marquis. The park replaced a vacant lot with 21,000 sf of green space, a playground, and a dog park.

To minimize the impact of stormwater runoff on the city’s overburdened sewer system, the team created a system to tie direct roof stormwater runoff into an existing 3,385-foot-long deep tunnel that transfers to Lake Michigan. This approach will help avoid sewer system backups that would impact homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Originally published in BDC Network