Choose Chicago, the city's tourism arm, is aiming to bolster its resources through an additional hotel tax.

The measure would tack a 1.5% surcharge on room rates for stays at downtown hotels with at least 100 rooms and generate about $50M in new revenue to use on tourism promotion, Crain's Chicago Business reports.

The new tourism district, which would require city council approval and the support from some of the city's biggest hotels to move forward, aims to increase visitation and bring in more trade show and convention business.

“Tourism Improvement Districts are becoming critical funding mechanisms for convention and visitor bureaus, like Choose Chicago, to stay competitive,” Choose interim CEO Rich Gamble said in a statement to Crain's.

LEASES

Equinox signed a 40K SF lease at Fulton Street Cos.' 919 W. Fulton St. project, which is under construction. The 375K SF, 11-story office building is the only office project in the works downtown and is expected to come online in March 2025. Equinox Fulton Market will be the group’s fifth location in downtown Chicago.

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Darktrace signed a 14K SF lease at the Aon Center. Darktrace will relocate in early 2025 to a partial floor and fully furnished spec suite with wellness measures incorporated into its design. Savills' Brandon Nasatir, John Goodman, Eric Feinberg, Luke Troedson and Isabel Schwartz managed the transaction for the cybersecurity firm.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Trammell Crow Co. broke ground on a 788K SF speculative cross-dock warehouse in Plainfield. The building will be the first speculative warehouse in Plainfield Business Center and is expected to deliver in the fall of 2025.

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Bradford Allen Hospitality has begun a $25M renovation of its Hyatt Rosemont Chicago/O’Hare hotel at 6350 N. River Road to transform it into a Hyatt Centric full-service lifestyle hotel. The renovations entail a full-gut rehab of the property, which will result in 206 remodeled guest rooms, 12K SF of modernized meeting space, an improved fitness center and a ballroom with capacity for up to 500 people.

FINANCING

Glenstar and a private investor have recapitalized Presidents Plaza, a two-tower office complex near O’Hare International Airport, in an all-cash sales transaction. In addition to purchasing the 831K SF complex for $62M, Glenstar and its equity partner have set aside capital to fund tenant improvements. The duo is allocating roughly $16M to build spec suites and upgrade amenities and common areas at the office property at 8600-8700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

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Oak Brook-based Inland Private Capital Corp. completed a more than $37M capital raise for the private investment offering of IPC Self-Storage Portfolio XXI DST. The offering has been fully subscribed by investors and is now closed.