Plans to convert an historic downtown building into a 26-room, $4.3 million boutique hotel will be partially funded with Elgin TIF funds.
The Elgin House would include a small café on the ground floor at its 53-63 Douglas Ave. location, according to plans submitted by Chicago Realty Ventures Inc., which purchased the McBride Building in October 2024 from Cuming Holdings. The company is working with Atira Hotels, which will be a co-owner, to transform the top two floors into hotel rooms, City Manager Rick Kozal told the Elgin City Council last week.
Construction is expected to take about 14 months.
Atira operates 21 hotels in 12 states, including the award-winning, independent boutique hotel Lodge on the Desert in Tucson, Arizona.
Councilman Corey Dixon lauded the project as boon to the downtown district
“This is something that we’ve been wanting for a very, very long time, decades even, in our downtown,” he said. “We appreciate the project and the effort. We really look forward to making it a success.”
“Everyone is very happy about it,” Mayor Dave Kaptain said.
As part of the deal for the project to move forward, the council has tentatively approved a $1.2 million redevelopment agreement with Chicago Realty under which the company will receive Central Area Tax Increment Financing district money to help fund a portion of the work. Chicago Realty is also applying for state and federal historic tax credits.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. It was built in 1889 by brothers David and Thomas McBride, businessmen who worked in the coal and building materials industries. Originally, the 15,500-square-foot structure housed a bakery, dry goods store, saloon and loan offices, according to city documents.
Over the years, the building deteriorated to the point that it was condemned. A new owner spent $250,000 to repair and modernize it. The metal siding was added to the exterior, which was a trend in the 1960s, documents said.
Its original facade was restored in the late 1990s, returning its Queen Anne-style characteristics, including sandstone and rainite piers, sandstone and granite piers, corbelled brick, terra cotta ornament, scrolled brackets with Eastlake detailing and large, expansive windows, according to city documents.
Once completed, The Elgin House’s nightly rates would be $132 in the first year of operations. The hotel will have 15 employees, with the second floor having 12 rooms and the third floor with 14 rooms.
The café, named the Daily Bite, will be on the first-floor level. Two existing businesses, Fat Cat Custom Guitar and Repair and a State Farm insurance agency, will remain in the southern part of the building.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/25/elgin-boutique-hotel-house-tif/
