The Illinois Building, located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, is a historic office building situated at the heart of the Mile Square business district, which dates back to the city’s founding in 1821. InterContinental Hotel

The Illinois Building was commissioned by the president of what is now Levi Strauss & Company in 1924, who envisioned a “luxurious” office building to replace several smaller structures. Upon its completion in 1926, the building featured modern amenities, such as parking facilities, high-speed elevators, and ice water and toilets on each floor.

The building was designed by the esteemed architectural firm Rubush & Hunter, whose other notable landmarks within Indianapolis include the Masonic Temple, City Hall, Circle Theater, Indiana Theater, and the Stutz Motor Company complex.

Throughout its history, the Illinois Building maintained its purpose as an office building despite changes in ownership through the 1960s and 1970s. A ground lease established during an early transfer complicated future building transfers. In 1988, a local developer purchased the building and invested $16 million in renovations. Despite these efforts, the building became predominantly vacant by the mid-2000s. To encourage interest in its revitalization, Indiana Landmarks listed the Illinois Building on its 10 Most Endangered list in 2006.

The 10-story, 135,004 square foot Illinois Building was transformed into a 170-key full-service luxury InterContinental hotel, featuring two ground-floor restaurants currently occupying the spaces, as well as a 2nd-floor hotel restaurant/bar and a rooftop bar and venue. IHG, which currently manages 6,000 hotels globally, manages this hotel.

The project is sponsored by Keystone Group, a premier Indiana-based developer with decades of and a commitment to creating mixed-use properties that enhance the community in which they’re located. Their headquarters is located four blocks from the project in the historic Majestic Building, which they rehabbed, own, and operate.

The Rialto Building, originally constructed in 1887, was designed to house a variety of tenants, including physicians, dentists, and other professionals, as well as retail spaces and a barber shop. In December 1909, the original five-story Rialto Building was destroyed by fire and displaced many medical professionals whose practices were lost. Owner and Kansas City real estate icon Albert Marty prioritized building a new fireproof skyscraper to meet the increasing demand for commercial space near East Ninth Street and Grand Boulevard. Completed in 1911, the thirteen-story early steel-frame skyscraper featured Commercial-style architecture by renowned architects Smith, Rea, and Lovitt and was constructed by George L. Brown & Son. By embracing the latest design and technological advances, the building featured specialized office spaces for doctors and dentists, a formal elevator lobby, a bank room, and retail spaces on the ground floor.

Over the years, the Rialto maintained high occupancy by adapting to the evolving needs of its tenants. In 1939, the Sinclaire Refining Company relocated its headquarters to the Rialto. In 1967, the building underwent substantial modernization, focusing on interior updates while maintaining the historic facade. In 1968, the structure was re-christened the Ozark National Life Building after the insurance company moved its offices to the top floors. The building continued to evolve through several more ownerships and renovations, including a $600,000 restoration in 1984 and extensive modernization in 1994. Acquired by the current ownership in 2020, the building’s transformation into a hotel preserves its architectural legacy while revitalizing it for contemporary use.

The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, at the southwest corner of South Broad and Walnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia, was completed in 1904 in the French Renaissance style and was described at the time as the most luxurious hotel in the nation and perhaps the most spectacular hotel building in the world, with the most magnificent ballroom in the US on the first floor. Modeled after the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan, it boasted 19 floors, 725 rooms, and the grandest event space in the city: a 500-person ballroom that could host events for nearly 3,000 people when including adjoining spaces. For many decades the Bellevue-Stratford, the “Grand Dame of Broad Street,” was Philadelphia’s largest hotel. Thomas Edison was involved in the lighting design for the hotel, creating fixtures as well as a switchboard for the hotel’s ballroom. Throughout its time in operation, 15 presidents were guests at the hotel, including Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. 

Apart from a large addition in 1912, which brought the square footage to 657,000 and the room total above 1,000 and added the iconic cameo rooms and other function spaces to the 19th floor, the hotel remained largely unchanged until its closing. In 1976, an outbreak of an unidentified respiratory disease led to the hotel’s sudden closure. In 1978 the building was sold to the Richard I. Rubin Company, saving it from demolition. Rubin undertook a $25 million renovation, reducing the key count to 565 and restoring the public areas, before reopening it as the Fairmont. Westin later acquired an interest in the building, and the Hotel was renamed the Westin Bellevue Stratford in 1983 before closing in 1986 due to low occupancy. In 1988, a new owner reopened the building as The Bellevue, converting much of the hotel to office and cutting an atrium into the remaining hotel portion.