Phase I, slated for completion in May 2001, will include the lobby, restaurant, bar, guest rooms in the North Tower and the hotel's exterior. Internal improvement will include extra soundproofing for guestrooms, rebuilding the hotel's elevator banks and enhancing the building's energy efficiency.

The building's North and South Towers will eventually have one grand entrance. The lobby will be enlarged and reconfigured. The new space this creates will include a four-story rotunda, 45-ft. in diameter with cast bronze ornamentation. A focal point will be a custom designed onyx mosaic floor complimented by a grand staircase.

The Amber restaurant will close during the renovation. Plans call for the restaurant to reopen in June 2001. The restaurant will be transformed into a two-story structure. A stone staircase will cut through an oval opening in the ceiling. Its second floor room will increase the restaurant's seating capacity and will overlook Michigan Avenue. Studio Gaia of New York will lead the renovation of the restaurant. Ilan Waisbrod and Anurag Nema head the design team.