McCormick Place will have a new 1,200-room headquarters hotel directly across from the West Building soon. Plans for the new hotel facing Michigan Avenue call for a groundbreaking in the fourth quarter of 2014 and completion by the end of 2016.

The hotel, which will also have 60 suites, a 400-seat restaurant and multiple ballrooms, will connect to the convention center’s West Building via a sky bridge.

Construction on what is estimated to be a $400-million project will be funded by Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), which owns McCormick Place and the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, also connected to the convention center.

“This is a major step in taking Chicago’s convention and meeting business to the next level,” says MPEA CEO Jim Reilly.

The Hyatt Regency is currently undergoing an expansion that will give it a total of 1,360 rooms by the end of this summer. So, within four years, McCormick Place will have more than 2,500 rooms within walking distance of its exhibit halls and meeting rooms.

MPEA officials estimate the new hotel will allow McCormick Place to attract 15 new mid-market events 80,000 additional attendees each year.

“This new hotel will help us make the case why our state should be the first choice of any show anywhere,” says Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

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