The hotel, which will be near the Chicago O'Hare InternationalAirport, will be six stories tall with a total of 129,250 sf. Thevalue of the project is reportedly $35 million. The building willhave loft-like guest rooms with nine-foot ceilings and oversizedwindows, says Keith Dafcik, senior vice president with McShane. Thebuilding will have load-bearing precast interior walls, precasthollow-core floor and "a precast exterior skin of the building inaddition to some masonry features in the front," Dafcik says. Thehotel's precast walls and special windows to help block out noisefrom the airport, he says.

Construction of the hotel is expected to be completed in July2008, Dafcik says. A sky bridge is also being constructedconnecting the hotel with an existing parking garage which willaugment the hotel's parking.

The Aloft Hotel will have wireless internet access throughoutthe hotel, a McShane spokesperson says. Another feature aimed atthe technology-savvy is the "plug & play" for various itemssuch as laptops and mp3 players. The hotel will also have a fitnesscenter and indoor pool. The Aloft Hotel brand is geared towardyounger travelers with the "wired" features and will also have moregathering areas as opposed to a formal restaurant, a McShanespokesperson says. Aloft is a new hotel brand created by the WHotel chain and owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts WorldwideInc. Starwood plans to have 500 Aloft hotels open by 2012,according to a released statement by the company.