Neighbors Blast Gay Hotel Proposed for Chicago

New York City has its own hotel for LGBT visitors and a developer hopes to build a similar property in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood. Neighbors, though, don't seem so enthusiastic.

At a recent meeting of the Belmont Harbor Neighbors board, a group that advises city leaders on development, the board of directors voted unanimously to oppose the OUT Chicago Urban Resort on Halsted Street. In its current form, the hotel would rise eight stories and hold 112 rooms. The developer recently introduced new designs for the hotel after the community balked, but the Belmont Harbor Neighbors don't like the new renderings either.

“You’re trying to fit too large of a hotel into a space that it’s not suited for, and with all do respect to the architecture firm and your views on iconic Chicago architecture, this is not going to be an icon of Chicago architecture,” boardmember John Black said at the meeting. “It looks like a hotel was built over a building you could not knock down or get the rights to use.”

Members of the community worried the hotel would bring crime and traffic, though the developer argued that a 24-hour security guard would deter crime and most visitors would utilize public transportation. Read more here about the OUT Chicago Urban Resort.