111 W. Monroe office-to-hotel conversion gets a $50 million TIF loan from the Chicago City Council

The Council voted 50–0 on Sept. 23 to lend up to $50 million to turn the landmark Harris Bank building in the Loop into a 307-room hotel.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 16, 2026

Ald. William Conway (34th Ward) asks the Committee on Finance to back the 111 W. Monroe hotel loan, Sept. 22, 2026City of Chicago video

A $50 million TIF loan to turn part of 111 W. Monroe St. into a hotel passed the Chicago City Council 50 to 0 on Sept. 23. The ordinance, SO2026-0027146, approves a redevelopment agreement with 111 Monroe Hotel Landlord LLC for the Loop building known as the Harris Bank building, a City landmark since June 2025. The Committee on Finance had recommended it the day before on a voice vote.

What is being built?

Jeffrey Cohen, managing deputy commissioner in the Department of Planning and Development, told the Finance Committee on Sept. 22 that the developer is a joint venture of Prime Group and Capri, and that the plan is to rehabilitate the low-rise portion of the building, built in 1911 at the southwest corner of Clark and Monroe for Harris Trust and Savings Bank, into a 307-key boutique hotel.

According to our summary of the ordinance, the hotel would take part of floors 1 through 12 and floor 23, with about 20,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, two restaurants and a bar, a spa, a reopened Monroe Club on the penthouse floor and a rooftop pool deck of about 21,000 square feet.

Cohen said the $166.5 million project could not find a senior lender.

"there was no additional lenders who were willing to take on the senior loan to fund the $166.5 million project. The request before you today is to approve a TIF loan not to exceed $50 million or 30% of total project cost. This approval will complete the capital stack and allow the project to move toward construction commencement immediately."

Jeffrey Cohen, Department of Planning and Development, Committee on Finance, Sept. 22, 2026

The rest, he said, is $48 million in developer equity, $18.4 million in historic tax credits and a commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) loan of up to $50 million; $115 million of the total is private.

How does a TIF loan differ from a TIF grant?

This is a loan, not a grant. The money comes from the LaSalle Central TIF district, created in 2006 and expiring in 2030. It is paid out quarterly, after City staff vet the developer's eligible costs, and cannot cover the building's purchase price.

No interest accrues during construction. Once the City issues a certificate of completion, the developer pays interest only for five years, then principal and interest from year six on a 15-year amortization schedule. The interest rate is the lesser of the 10-year Treasury yield or the 10-year SOFR swap rate plus 30 basis points, capped at 5 percent and fixed at closing. The loan is secured by a mortgage and promissory note, and the building must operate as a hotel for a 10-year compliance period. The project also carries the City's standard contracting, residency and prevailing wage goals.

What does the City expect back?

Cohen said the deal provides the first new lodging in the Loop in years, rehabilitates a landmark and removes 250,000 square feet of obsolete offices. He estimated 280 permanent jobs and 500 construction jobs, about $8.3 million a year in hotel and sales taxes, almost $250 million over 30 years, and about $500,000 for the new Tourism Improvement District. Construction was projected to begin in August or September 2026, with major work done by September 2028 and stable operations by summer 2029.

What did alderpersons say?

Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward) noticed the contracting goals left out veterans.

"Noticeably absent from the WMBE was the veterans. Is there a reason why that they are not part of this?"

Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward), Committee on Finance, Sept. 22, 2026

Cohen said the 3 percent aspirational veteran-owned business goal would be added, since the ordinance predated the Council's adoption of it, and a developer representative confirmed it on the record.

Ald. William Conway (34th Ward), whose ward includes the building, wrote a letter of support and praised the loan's structure.

"I commend DPD here on the structure of this deal in the sense that it is a construction loan to get the project going. And then five years from now, once it's stabilized, the fact that it essentially has an accelerated amortization of 15 years really incentivizes the developer owner to take out that loan at that point."

Ald. William Conway (34th Ward), Committee on Finance, Sept. 22, 2026

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) also sent a letter of support, and the committee passed the item on a voice vote.

Ald. William Conway on the 111 W. Monroe hotel loan Committee on Finance, Sep 22, 2026 · 3:19:47–3:21:20

How did the vote go?

At the Council on Sept. 23, the item passed 50 to 0 without debate, on the same roll call as the other Finance Committee items.

How each ward voted

50 yea · Sep 23, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

SO2026-0027146: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What it means on your block

For the Loop, the deal means construction at Clark and Monroe through 2028 and a new hotel after that, on a stretch of LaSalle Street the City is trying to refill. The City's money is a loan with a mortgage behind it, but the City is also the lender of last resort: Cohen said no private lender would take the senior position. Whether the City gets its $50 million back depends on the hotel opening and staying open for the 10-year compliance period. The LaSalle Central TIF district expires in 2030, so this is one of its last large deals.