Several presidents have stayed at the Blackstone including Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, John Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. The hotel, which was constructed between 1908 and 1910, also is where Republican leaders brokered the presidential nomination of Warren Harding in 1920, an event which led to the expression "smoke-filled room."

The Beaux-Arts building had been closed since 1999 after plans by Maharishi to convert the building into about 100 luxury condominiums fizzled, as previously reported by GlobeSt.com. "At the time [Sage acquired it], the South Loop was not viewed as a great hotel location," Geist says. "We were ahead of the curve and it worked out well for us."

The hotel's two-story lobby and 3,500-sf Crystal Ballroom were both restored, including the ballrooms' 8-foot-by-5-foot chandelier. The hotel's restaurant, Mercat a la Planxa, opened this past week with Jose Garces as chef and a Catalan theme, Geist says. The restored 23-story hotel also has 19,670 sf of meeting space, a health club, business center and Starbucks Cafe. Space under the mansard roof, which had previously housed mechanical equipment, was renovated into a "private club" called Hubbard Place, named because the street used to have that name. Hubbard Place, which will open on April 30, will have meal service, butler service, concierge, private car service and other "upgraded amenities," Geist tells GlobeSt.com. "We think there is definitely a demand for it in the South Loop," he says.