James McHugh Construction Co.

McHugh in the News:

CHICAGO-When Kimpton Hotels decided to transform Chicago's historic but dated Bismarck Hotel into the Hotel Allegro in the late 1990s, they turned to James McHugh Construction Co. When Kimpton planned another round of major upgrades to the 82-year-old-structure, they turned to McHugh once again.

McHugh recently completed more than $25 million in upgrades to the Hotel Allegro, at Randolph and LaSalle streets. It originally opened in 1998 after a major rehab and transformation from the dated Bismarck. The Chicago office of Gensler provided architectural services, with San Francisco-based Martha Angus Inc. the interior designer.

This is McHugh's third project with San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group. In addition to performing the original Allegro work, the contractor also rehabbed the former Oxford House Hotel into the Hotel Monaco for Kimpton.

Most of the latest renovation work is not visible to guests, which made it all the more challenging. McHugh removed and replaced the hotel's antiquated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Most frequently, this type of work is performed while a building is closed during a complete gut, because these systems are buried beneath walls. Instead, McHugh kept the hotel operating throughout most of the work. The Allegro closed during December and January, typically its slowest times, in order accelerate the schedule. After reopening in February, the team closed off a half a floor at a time, completing a floor every three days.

In addition to the MEP work, for which McHugh provided design-build services, the team completely rebuilt the baths and revamped the rooms and halls with new fixtures, furnishings and equipment. Noisy induction heating and cooling systems were replaced with modern console fan units.

While a set schedule and budget for a large-scale rehab of an old building can quickly change due to the mysteries that await behind uncharted walls, McHugh completed all work on schedule and within the original budget, said Katerina Ivanova, McHugh project manager. "We did a lot of investigative work before construction began," said Ivanova. "Kimpton was very supportive throughout, and it helped that we had performed the initial renovation."

Among the project challenges were an extremely tight site with limited access space: the construction team had to share the lone delivery bay with the adjoining Cadillac Theatre, which at one point took over the bay with 24 semitrailers to stage The Phantom of The Opera. In response, McHugh had to use hand carts to remove the 1,500 tons of debris the project generated. The hotel's age and configuration often left the team with small, unusually shaped spaces: bathrooms as small as 5 ½ by 5 feet. McHugh worked with designers to create custom fixtures to fit and enhance the spaces.

The Allegro is the latest in a string of dramatic Chicago hotel property renovations for McHugh. Other recent renovations include the $128 million revamp of the historic Blackstone Hotel, the Four Seasons Chicago, the Ritz Carlton Chicago, the Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro, and Hotel 71. Last year, McHugh's construction work totaled more than 1.1 million square feet for some of the hospitality industrys leading names, including the Four Seasons, Renaissance, The Kimpton Group, and two new luxury brands, Elysian and Cappella.

Founded in 1897, McHugh is one of Chicago's oldest and largest general contracting, construction management and consulting firms. Current projects include the concrete structure for Trump International Hotel and Tower, the high-profile Aqua mixed-use high-rise with distinctive rippled exterior; and reconstruction of portions of Chicago's Red Line and Brown Line CTA elevated train stations.