Star Accident Insurance Building, Morton Building, Hotel Morton, 538 S. Dearborn Building
Life Span: 1896-Present
Location: 352-360 Dearborn (Old), 538 South Dearborn Street
Architect:: Jenney & Muncie
- Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Star Bldg.—352 to 356 Dearborn.
Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1896
THE STAR ACCIDENT CO., CHICAGO.
To Move Into a New Building-A Record of Eleven Years.
There is probably no better known accident insurance company in the country than the Star of Chicago. In its eleven years of active business its policies have reached every state in the Union and Canada. It is now the oldest accident company, and today stands at the head of the mutuals. Every year has marked some advance in its history. It has kept apace with the requirements of the public and the necessities of the times. Every year some new hazard is brought to the attention of the public, and must be provided for by the accident insurance policy. Electricity, bicycling, trolley car, etc., must all be given attention.
The Star has at all times endeavored to give its members the best protection for the least money. How well it succeeded in its eleven years the following statement shows:
In 1884 it paid $260.71 in claims; in 1885, $1,855.53; In 1886, $5,265.23; in 1887, $24,859; in 1888, $45,408: in 1889, $70,819; 1890, $65,383.59; 1891, $85,250; in 1892, $84,423; in 1893, $114,131; In 1894, $71,982.41; 1895, $72,359.20.
In 1896 Secretary Quincy informs us the policy of the Star will be changed, and will cover a much wider field of action than in the past.
The new building of the Star Accident Company, at Nos. 352, 354, and 356 Dearborn street, where the company will move on the 1st of May, is one of the finest twelve-story buildings in the city. The company will occupy the entire third floor, and as much additional space as will be required for the extended operations of the future.
During the year 1895 the company has written over ten millions of business, paid over seventy-two thousand dollars to its members for injuries, and closes the year with over fifty-two millions of business on its books. There was not one claim due and unpaid at the end of the year, and a surplus of twenty-one thousand in cash and in interest-bearing bonds to the credit of the company.
The accompanying cut represents the new building, which is a credit to the insurance interests of Chicago.
Chicago Chronicle, July 26, 1896
The newly erected Star Accident Insurance building, 352-356 Dearborn street, will be managed by Harberer & Delosse.
Inter Ocean, October 17, 1897
State of Realty Field.
A loan of $140,000, at 4½ per cent, for a term of years has been effected by C. C. Heisen on the Star Insurance building, Nos. 352 to 356 Dearborn street, replacing a loan made a year ago for $190,000.
Inter Ocean, March 28, 1909
Former Vice President Levi P. Morton of New York has bought the Star building, at 352-4-6 Dearborn street, from George H. Wilson of Chicago and L. H. Cheeseman of Detroit, Mich. The consideration named in the deed is $1, the purchaser assuming incumbrances amounting to $180,000 and transferring other property in part payment. Callistus S. Ennis & Co. and Walter H. Wilson & Co. negotiated the several deals necessary to consummate the sale.
The Star building is a twelve story and basement steel construction, fireproof structure, occupying fifty feet frontage on Dearborn street and extending through to Federal place, a depth of about sixty-seven feet. It was built by C. C. Hetsen about fourteen years ago.
Chicago Central Business and Office Building Directory, 1922
Chicago Tribune, November 27, 1985
Buildings to become hotel
Paul Stepan & Associates completed the purchase of the Morton and Duplicator buildings at 522-538 S. Dearborn St., Chicago. Stepan plans to combine and renovate the two structures into an 85,000-square-foot 140-room hotel to be operated by The Management Group.
Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1986
MORTON HOTEL SET IN S. LOOP
The Philipsborn Co. of Chicago has arranged an $8.15 million open-end construction loan for the renovation-construction of the Morton Hotel in the South Loop Printers Row area.
Work on the 135-room hotel at 524 S. Dearborn St. will include renovation of the 12-story Morton Building and the nine-story Duplicator Building and construction of a third building. Both existing buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel is being developed by Morton Hotel Partners, a limited partnership. The architect is Booth Hansen & Associates of Chicago and the general contractor is W.E. O`Neil Construction Co. of Chicago.
The Chicago-based Management Group will handle operations at the hotel, scheduled for occupancy early next year.
- The Morton Hotel at 524 S. Dearborn St. i the South Loop will combine two renovated historic buildings with new construction. It is scheduled to open early next year.
Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1987
By Karl Plata
The Hotel Morton is both new and old, both high-tech and traditional.
The recently opened hotel at 500 S. Dearborn St was created by an $18 million joining and rehabilitation of the 100-year-old Duplicator and Morton Buildings.
The aim of the new downtown hotel is to combine the latest in high-tech features with the’ old-fashioned personal service of a small hotel.
During a last-minute rush to open the first 74 rooms on Dec. 31, sales director Terri Hoffman; helped by making beds. (Another 36 rooms are ‘ scheduled to open in September and the balance, of the 163 rooms are scheduled to be completed by the year-end.)
When a visitor recently approached the hotel in the South Loop’s Printers Row area, a uniformed doorman opened the door with a cheerful welcome. Just inside, the concierge took his coat and directed him to the small but comfortable lobby. During a tour of the facilities, officials exchanged pleasantries with workers putting the finishing touches on the first phase of the hotel.
“You’re not just a number here, you’re a person,” said M.P. (Mif) Whittlesey, regional sales director for the Chicago-based Management1 Group Inc., which operates and co-owns the Hotel Morton with Paul Stepan & Associates of Chicago. “We work on name recognition so we will get that repeat business.
“When a guest returns, the employees will know his name and they will know his idiosyncrasies.”
The hotel was considered a risky venture by some industry observers because of its location and the proximity of the huge and recently renovated Chicago Hilton and Towers a few blocks ftwfty After only a couple of weeks of being open, the Hotel Morton has been achieving a 50 percent occupancy rate.
“In January, in Chicago, that’s very good,” Whittlesey said. “There was a hesitancy at first because people did not want to go to a hotel they didn’t know,” he said. Hoffman said the hotel has attracted just the clientele it was seeking: people with business in the growing LaSalle-Wacker Drive financial and service district and visitors to the burgeoning ‘ residential development in the South Loop.
Despite the skeptics, Management Croup officials were convinced the new hotel would work. “There is a lack of hotel rooms of that nature in the area, a small, intimate hotel,” said C.A. Bud Cataldo, president of Management Group.
“The Hilton is a major convention-type hotel, and a lot of businessmen prefer to have a small, intimate property that doesn’t have conventioneers. There really isn’t anything of that nature on the upper scale in the downtown or. South Loop areas. We thought that was the first need.
“The other thing is the burgeoning area: the South Dearborn, Dearborn Park areas, Printers Row that is just starting to explode with yuppie residential, the renovation of Dearborn Station, One Financial Place. There’s a lot of very positive happenings.
“We felt it was the future area for development in downtown Chicago as an alternative to being Near North and Gold Coast” Cataldo said Stepan and the Management Group decided on the rehab project because the price was right for a relatively small hotel.
“It was a project that was not too large in scale but yet would offer that convenience.
“Thus far, all of our advance bookings indicate the financial community feels the same way about it It’s about as close as you can get without tearing down some big buildings.
“We feel we’re going to have a blend of both the commercial business and the residential who are moving into the area. The River City development is finally starting to take off and I think I there’s a lot of new residential that will continue to grow area new shopping and the Dearborn Station.
“I think it’s going to be a very healthy and viable community.”
Hoffman said local residents have accepted the hotel .wd have referred it to visiting friends and relatives.
“We’ve had a tremendous response from the neighborhood,” Hoffman said. “It’s like their hotel. People who live, in the neighborhood were wanting oy, watching the progress.”
Whittlesey said the hotel also has had good response from small groups attending functions at nearby museums and conventions, although the hotel is not actively seeking convention business.
He said a major attraction is rooms that don’t look like they belong in a hotel.
“You have, more of a feeling of being in someone’s guest room,” he said.
Each room, with its 12-foot ceilings, features two original works of art on the walls, a video cassette player, a television, two telephones and a fully stocked bar. A Pierre Cardin bathrobe is in each room. Eighty percent of the rooms have king-size beds and 20 percent have double beds. Prices range from $110 to $140 for a single and $130 to $160 for a double.
Amenities include 24-hour room service, a complimentary full breakfast, complimentary cocktails and concierge service. Complimentary limousine service is provided throughout the downtown area.
The concierge can get video tapes from nearby rental businesses until the hotel develops its own tape library for guests.
The hotel also provides credit cards for its guests to use at nearby restaurants, with the charges to be added to their bills. The second phase of the construction project will include a full-service, first-class restaurant, although the hotel already has a full-service kitchen in operation for catered events.
Hotel officials are especially proud of the computerized instant checkout service provided for guests who register with credit cards. Guests will be able to tie into the computer via the televisions in their rooms to get an up-to-the-minute look at the charges.
- Star Insurance Building
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
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