A local hotel investor is making a $72 million bet on the recovery of the Magnificent Mile shopping district and the broader travel industry, buying the 752-room Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago from Pebblebrook Hotel Trust.
Vinayaka Hospitality this week completed the purchase of the hotel at 909 N. Michigan Ave., according to a statement from Draper and Kramer.
That Chicago real estate firm provided a $54 million loan to the buyer of the property, one of the city’s largest hotels.
The price is far below its pre-pandemic valuation, but it represents one of the biggest investments in a Chicago hotel in recent years. It also is a long-term play on a continued recovery of the city’s best-known shopping district, a major tourism draw that has shown recent signs of a turnaround after years of setbacks.
The only larger hotel sale in 2025 was Virgin Hotels’ nearly $77.4 million sale of its original hotel just off the Mag Mile. That property at 203 N. Wabash Ave. is set to be converted into a Sports Illustrated-themed resort.
The 27-story hotel at 909 N. Michigan Ave. is changing hands at a time of hope for the Mag Mile and other parts of downtown that were hit hard by the effects of COVID-19 starting in early 2020.
Chicago’s central business district set a record for hotel-room demand during the summer months, according to Choose Chicago, a nonprofit group promoting tourism.
Mag Mile retail properties suffered from high-profile store closures in recent years, prompting an apparent social-media swipe at the street by President Donald Trump last month.
But after the president’s late-night post, real estate professionals pointed out that foot traffic and leasing have been on the rise. High-profile deals have included a crowd-attracting, Harry Potter-themed store and the return of previous tenants on the street, such as Uniqlo.
The sale was completed Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for Draper and Kramer. Vinayaka Hospitality’s deal for the property was previously reported by Crain’s Chicago Business.
The hotel’s new owner is led by Ketu Amin, a suburban businessman and longtime investor in hotels. Amin did not respond to requests for comment from CoStar News on plans for the property.
“This iconic hotel, one of downtown’s largest and with a prime location along the famed Magnificent Mile, is the very definition of a trophy property — making it an incredible investment,” Mark Perkowski, senior vice president in Draper and Kramer’s commercial finance group, said in the statement. “And with Vinayaka Hospitality’s track record of successfully acquiring, improving and managing similar full-service hotels, it was certainly an attractive lending opportunity.”
Bethesda, Maryland-based Pebblebrook said in a statement Thursday that the Chicago sale and the previously announced $44.25 million sale of the Montrose at Beverly Hills in California will reduce the real estate investment trust’s debt by $100 million and its preferred securities outstanding by $5 million.
Pebblebrook has been looking to sell the Chicago hotel since 2023, the same year the REIT sold retail at the base of the hotel to a different buyer for $27.3 million.
The hotel last sold for $214.7 million in March 2006, before the Great Recession, according to CoStar data. The buyer was LaSalle Hotel Properties, which Pebblebrook acquired in 2018.
For the record
The seller was represented by JLL brokers Adam McGaughy and John Nugent.