Gold Coast’s Hotel Indigo getting new name: Claridge House

Less than two years after being bought out of foreclosure, the Gold Coast’s Hotel Indigo is getting a new name and restaurant as part of a $9 million renovation.

The hotel at 1244 N. Dearborn Parkway in May will change its name to the Claridge House, according to Oxford Hotels & Resorts, which will manage it.

The rebranding brings the 165-room hotel back to its origins.

Designed by Walter Ahlschlager, the building opened in 1923 as the Claridge Hotel. The initials “CH” and the Claridge name remain inscribed on the exterior of the 12-story structure.

“We really liked the DNA of the Claridge name,” said John Rutledge, president and CEO of Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group. “We thought resurrecting and reinventing the Claridge name gives it a nice hospitality orientation. It has the feel of a home away from home.”

The Claridge name remained until 2005, according to Oxford. The property in recent years has been called the Hotel Indigo, a brand of InterContinental Hotels Group.

After the last financial crash, the hotel went into foreclosure before La Jolla, Calif.-based investor Interwest Capital bought it for about $24 million in September 2016, according to Cook County property records.

Interwest continues to own the hotel, while the Oxford Capital affiliate will manage it. The Hotel Indigo name will change sometime in May when the $9 million renovation — designed by Chicago’s Gettys Group — will be completed, Rutledge said. The hotel will remain open throughout the work.

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