News
No Longer Skid Row
July 17, 2009
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| The July ULI breakfast, earlier this week, gave us a case study of the newly opened Hotel Felix, where we ran into Oxford Capital Group's Larry Cummings, Hammerschlag & Co.'s Bryan Schroeder, and Getty's Roger Hill in the mezzanine meeting room. Roger helped design the Felix, which is the world's 23rd LEED-certified hotel. (Not long till we implement a McDonald?s style counter: ?Billion greened.?) The former transient hotel was gut-rehabbed and now includes green cleaning methods, energy efficient HVAC, and may someday have a rooftop garden. |
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| Why is the room they're in so dull? Because reclaiming the small spaces on the mezzanine was difficult, says Oxford Capital Group's John Rutledge, and since it didn't make for great guest room space, some was made into niche meeting rooms. Oxford focuses on ?picking the low-hanging fruit? by investing in properties that need help, especially in areas that may not. The Felix is just a few blocks off the Mag Mile and enjoys the benefits of River North's restaurants and the Gold Coast's high-end retail, John says. |
