WEST LOOP — A Mexican hotel chain plans to build a massive 82-story hotel in the West Loop, the firm announced Friday, but local officials said they have yet to meet with the developer.
Mexico City-based Grupo Posadas announced plans to build a Live Aqua luxury hotel in the West Loop as part of their expansion into the U.S. market. Plans call for 250-300 units to be developed in the "West Loop area," Posadas officials said in a statement. The skyscraper would be completed in 2017.
Reached Friday, a spokesman for Grupo Posadas declined to confirm an exact or approximate location where the 82-story hotel would be developed.
Armando Chacon, president of the West Central Association, a group that reviews new development in the West Loop, said the agency has not met with the developer or reviewed potential site plans.
Chacon said he does not know where the hotel would potentially be located, but said the hotel chain's plans would be "significantly taller" than existing buildings in the West Loop. If developed, the buidling would be close in height to the Aon Center in the Loop, which is 83 stories tall.
Private equity firm Bighorn Capital, Inc. has invested $450 million into the five-hotel project for Grupo Posadas. Other hotels would be located in Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Washington, D.C.
Début Hotel Group, which operates Dream Hotels, would manage the Live Aqua U.S. hotels, according to the statement.
Javier Barrera, vice president of Posadas, said the hotel group is excited to introduce American consumers and international tourists to Live Aqua, a "luxury brand with unique Latin style known for warm, attentive service."
"Through our partnership with Bighorn Capital and Début Hotel Group, both of whom have a deep understanding of the innate characteristics of success in the U.S. market, we believe we can establish a lasting and important lifestyle brand in the U.S," Barrera said.
With 136 hotels, Grupo Posadas is Mexico's largest hotel chain.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
