London Guarantee Building
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = London Guarantee Building
| native_name =
| image = London Guarantee Building - Chicago (51556707545).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| locmapin = Chicago
| coordinates = {{coord|41.888|-87.625|display=inline,title}}
| location = 85 E. Wacker Drive at North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
| area =
| built = 1923
| architect = Alfred S. Alschuler
| architecture =
| governing_body =
| designation1 = Chicago
| designation1_offname =
| designation1_date = April 16, 1996
| designation1_number =
| other_name = London Guaranty & Accident Building
| website = {{URL|https://londonhousechicago.com/}}
}}
The London Guarantee Building or London Guaranty & Accident Building is a historic 1923 commercial skyscraper whose primary occupant since 2016 is the LondonHouse Chicago Hotel.{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/building/londonguaranteebuilding-chicago-il-usa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021005122/http://www.emporis.com/building/londonguaranteebuilding-chicago-il-usa |url-status=usurped |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |year=2007 |website=Emporis |title=London Guarantee Building |access-date=August 30, 2014 }} This building, which was formerly named the Stone Container Building,{{cite news| first=J. Linn| last=Allen| title=Not that Stone Container Building, this one-got it?| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99241243/chicago-tribune/| date=February 23, 1993| page=1| access-date=April 6, 2022}}[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99241418/chicago-tribune/ cont. pg. 9] is located near the Loop in Chicago. It is one of four historic 1920s skyscrapers that surround the Michigan Avenue Bridge over the Chicago River (the others are the Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower and 333 North Michigan Avenue) and is a contributing property to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District. The building stands on part of the former site of Fort Dearborn and was designated a Chicago Landmark on April 16, 1996.{{cite web| url=http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/L/LondonGuarantee.html| title=London Guarantee Building| website=City of Chicago Dept. of Planning and Devpmt., Landmarks Div.| year=2003| access-date=May 19, 2007| url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607161825/http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/L/LondonGuarantee.html| archive-date=June 7, 2007| df=mdy-all}}
History
The London Guarantee & Accident Building was designed by Chicago architect Alfred S. Alschuler and completed in 1923 for the London Guarantee & Accident Company, an insurance firm that was then its principal occupant. The top of the building is noted to resemble the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, but it was modeled after the Stockholm Stadshus. It is located in the Michigan–Wacker Historic District. The building stands on the property formerly occupied by the Hoyt Building from 1872 until 1921.{{cite book|title=Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis|url=https://archive.org/details/chicagogrowthofm0000maye|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Chicago Press|author=Mayer, Harold M. and Richard C. Wade|year=1969}} The LondonHouse Hotel name is an homage to the first owner of the 1923 Beaux Arts tower.{{cite news| first=David| last=Matthews| url=http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150212/downtown/londonhouse-hotel-open-landmark-london-guarantee-building-this-spring| title=LondonHouse Hotel To Open in Landmark London Guarantee Building Next Spring| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314192407/https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150212/downtown/londonhouse-hotel-open-landmark-london-guarantee-building-this-spring| archive-date=March 14, 2016| website=DNAinfo| date=February 12, 2015}}
In the 1930s through the 1950s, the Haywood Publishing Company, founded by George P. Haywood, was housed in the building. The Haywood Publishing company, based in Lafayette, IN, published many periodicals and monthlys for the manufacturing industry.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dnQjAQAAIAAJ&dq=360+N+Michigan+Avenue+Haywood+Publishing&pg=RA6-PA56 |title=Trade Promotion Series |date=1939 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_oQSEjfh0UC&dq=360+N+Michigan+Avenue+Haywood+Publishing&pg=PT1 |title=Containers and Packaging |date=1948 |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Industry and Trade Administration, Forest Products Packaging and Printing Division |language=en}}
From the 1960s through the 1980s, the studios of Chicago's WLS (AM) radio were located on the fifth floor of the building.[http://www.radiotimeline.com/am89wls.htm "WLS Chicago Radio Timeline Page"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127050851/http://radiotimeline.com/am89wls.htm |date=November 27, 2010 }}, Radio Timeline.com. Retrieved May 27, 2016. For several decades, Paul Harvey performed his daily syndicated radio show from studios on the fourth floor. The building was also famous from the 1950s through the early 1970s for The London House, a Chicago jazz nightclub and steakhouse on the west side of the building's first floor; it had its own entrance on Wacker Drive. It was one of the foremost jazz clubs in the country, once home to performers including Oscar Peterson, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, Cannonball Adderley, Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Nancy Wilson, Barbara Carroll, Bobby Short and many others.{{cite press release| url=http://oxford-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/6_March-5-2015_Curio-LondonHouse-Signing-FINAL.pdf| title=Hilton Worldwide Welcomes Chicago's "LondonHouse" to Curio – A Collection by Hilton| publisher=Hilton Worldwide| date=March 5, 2015| access-date=April 6, 2022}}
In the 1980s and 1990s TV show Perfect Strangers, the building's exterior was used as the home of the fictional newspaper Chicago Chronicle.Selvam, Ashok (February 12, 2016). [http://chicago.eater.com/2016/2/12/10979194/londonhouse-chicago-restaurant-lounge "'Chicago's First Tri-Level Rooftop' Lounge Heading to Loop Hotel in Spring"], Chicago Eater. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
In 2001, the building was acquired by Crain Communications Inc. and was referred to as the Crain Communications Building. Crain Communications and other office tenants occupied the tower until Oxford Capital paid $53 million for the property. Crain sold the building during the summer of 2013 to a Chicago hotel developer, Oxford Capital Group, which remodeled the structure into a 452-room hotel, with the addition of a modern glass addition on an adjacent plot.{{cite web |url=http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/29/hospitality-watch-london-guarantee-building.php |title=Hospitality Watch: London Guarantee Building |date=July 29, 2013 |website=Curbed Chicago |access-date=August 30, 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/04/london-guarantee-building-is-ready-for-its-next-life-as-a-hotel.php |title=Development Watch: London Guarantee Building Will Contain 450 Hotel Rooms |date=April 4, 2014 |website=Curbed Chicago |access-date=August 30, 2014}} Goettsch Partners designed the new 22-story addition on a parcel immediately west of the structure.{{cite news |last1=Maidenberg |first1=Micah |author2=Ryan Ori |url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20150212/CRED03/150219915/londonhouse-hyatt-centric-hotels-are-coming-downtown |title=LondonHouse, Hyatt Centric hotels are coming downtown |newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business |date=February 12, 2015 |access-date=April 20, 2016}} On April 15, 2016, Oxford Capital Group sold the 452-room hotel, but also agreed to a 25-year contract to lease back and manage the hotel. Oxford, however, retained ownership of first and second floor retail space.{{cite news |author=Ori, Ryan |url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160417/CRED03/160419859/londonhouse-hotel-sells-for-record-price |title=LondonHouse hotel sells for record price |newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business |date=April 17, 2016 |access-date=April 20, 2016}}
After an extensive renovation project, the building reopened as the LondonHouse hotel on May 26, 2016.{{cite news |author=Kamin, Blair |date=May 25, 2016 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-london-house-kamin-met-0526-20160525-story.html |title=Michigan Avenue Classic Comes Back to Life with a 21st Century Twist |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 26, 2016}}
Gallery
Image:1950+A003020 (3552768274).jpg|{{circa}} 1950
Image:20070530 360 North Michigan Rotunda.JPG |Rotunda ceiling
Image:20070530 360 North Michigan Entrance.JPG |London Guarantee Building entrance commemorates Fort Dearborn at the top
Image:20070530 360 North Michigan and 35 East Wacker.JPG|London Guarantee Building, Mather Tower and 35 East Wacker
Image:20070701 Michigan Avenue Bridge Traffic.JPG|Michigan Avenue Bridge traffic (Background includes 333 North Michigan, Carbide & Carbon Building, London Guarantee Building, Mather Tower & 35 East Wacker
Image:Chicago @ Night (27794805823).jpg|London Guarantee Building lit in the colors of the French flag, after the 2016 Nice truck attack
Notes
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External links
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{{Chicago}}
{{Chicago Skyscrapers}}
{{Chicago Landmark skyscrapers}}
{{Hotels in Chicago}}
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Category:1923 establishments in Illinois
Category:Chicago school architecture in Illinois
Category:Historic district contributing properties in Illinois