The building team includes contractor Skender Construction, architect Farr Associates, historic preservation consulting firm Ramsey Historic Consultants, landscape architect Site Design Group, civil engineer TERRA Engineering and Wiss, Janey, Elster Associates, which will handle engineering and building envelope. 

Private investment led by Chicago-based developer Celadon Construction Corp. is providing $83.6 million in initial investment and the state, which owns the property, is kicking in $21 million via the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which is engaging in its first public-private partnership as part of the deal. Additional private capital commitments are expected over the life of a 75-year agreement to ensure long-term preservation and operations, the state says.

The Queen Anne–style brick-and-limestone Hotel Florence is located in a broader area of Chicago’s South Side that is experiencing a surge of investment. As part of the Pullman neighborhood, it would be served by the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) planned $5.75 billion Red Line extension. The hotel is also about five miles south of the new 440-acre Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), which is currently under development. 

The partnership between Celadon and the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the first major public-private partnership undertaken by the department, according to the state. Additional private capital commitments are expected over the life of a 75-year agreement to ensure long-term preservation and operations, the state says.

With a combination of public and private resources, “We are preserving an irreplaceable historic site while driving economic growth,” said IDNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie in a news release.

The hotel was built by rail manufacturer George Pullman and named for his daughter. It was designed by architect Solon S. Beman. The Pullman district is noteworthy for its influence on urban planning and design, as well as its role in American labor history, including the 1894 Pullman Strike and Boycott. Pullman was also home to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters—the first Black labor union recognized by a major U.S. corporation—and played a defining role in shaping worker protections nationwide, according to the state.

Farr Associates President Mercedes Miley says the project will provide various challenges including mismatched floor levels and building circulation, accessibility concerns, and the large number of historic items to document.

She says those challenges will be addressed early in the design process with an integrated design workshop that will bring together all parties including financing, design, construction, use, and maintenance of the buildings. 

"This all-hands workshop provides an opportunity for team insights and prior experience to shape the project during its formative stage, spurring innovation and a building uniquely suited to the client and context," she says. 

She adds that her firm has worked previously with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates and Site Design Group, and each also has worked on other Pullman buildings and grounds projects that will enable them to "bring their banked knowledge to this project."

"We thrive on the weird questions like where to place an 82-ton train car or replicating historic cabinet detail," she says. 

Celadon CEO Scott Henry is promising to incorporate input from the local community into the project.

“Public engagement is part of our DNA. Pullman’s residents and stakeholders will be central to this project from design through operation. This is about building with the community, not just in it,” he said in a news release.

The restored Hotel Florence will help fill a critical hospitality gap, attract new visitors, and support local restaurants, retail and cultural institutions and strengthening economic opportunity in an underserved community, the state says.