Lotte acquires Chicago-based hotel for $36 mn K-style rebrand

Hotel Lotte Co., retail conglomerate Lotte Group’s luxury hotel operator, completed the acquisition of Kimpton Hotel Monaco in Chicago for $36 million on Jan. 14, the South Korean hotel operator announced on Jan. 17.

Lotte and Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), a state-run organization to support global private-public partnerships, jointly acquired the hotel from Florida-based real estate investment trust Xenia Hotels & Resort Inc. 

The final price was a big drop from $53 million, the Chicago-based hotel’s appraised value in 2013. Illinois-based Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc. acquired three hotels from Kimpton Hotel Monaco for $189 million in November 2013. The purchased hotels were in Chicago, Denver and Salt Lake City, respectively. Inland American spun off its hotel investments into Xenia in February 2015.

The 13-story hotel stands at 225 N. Wabash Avenue., near the Chicago River and Millennium Park. Located 25 kilometers from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the luxury boutique hotel offers 191 guest rooms, a restaurant and event venues.

Lotte will open the Chicago-based hotel in the second half of 2023, after rebranding it under its urban lifestyle hotel brand L7. Lotte already operates a boutique hotel on New York's Madison Avenue, the Lotte New York Palace, and another on Seattle's Fifth Avenue, the Lotte Hotel Seattle. Lotte and Korea’s Hana Financial Investment Co. acquired the Seattle-based hotel for $175 million from private equity firm Stockbridge Capital Group in December 2019.  

Lotte operates three L7 hotels in Myeong-dong, Gangnam and Hongdae in Seoul as well.

“The L7 brand hotel in Chicago will write a new chapter in the K-style hotel segment. We will accelerate our overseas hotel market expansion with our diverse brand portfolio,” said Hotel Lotte General Manager Ahn Se-jin.

Write to A-Young Yoon at youngmoney@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.