Selina Chicago hotel in Gold Coast to be converted into temporary homeless shelter
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Gold Coast hotel will soon be converted to a temporary homeless shelter.
A spokesman for Mayor Brandon Johnson said the Selina Chicago hotel, 100 E Chestnut St., will start taking in unhoused residents as early as next month.
The conversion of the hotel into a homeless shelter was made possible through a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services. The mayor's office said all 116 rooms will be used for unhoused Chicagoans for up to seven months.
Ald. Brendan Reilly, whose ward includes the hotel, criticized the move, and admonished the mayor for not consulting him.
"The Mayor decided to make this decision unilaterally, rather than confer with the local aldermen who represent residents in the area," Reilly wrote in a statement provided to CBS 2. "The Johnson Administration's continued lack of transparency and communication regarding the opening of potential migrant and homeless shelter locations in wards throughout the city is neither acceptable nor good government. Simply put: it is wrong."
Reilly said he has requested more information from the Johnson administration about the plans for the shelter.
"To add insult to injury, the hardworking union hotel workers represented by UniteHERE Local 1 and Local 399 have recently been informed they will be losing their jobs at the Selina Hotel in just a matter of days," Reilly wrote. "I strongly oppose Mayor Johnson's bad decision to convert a revenue generating hotel property, just steps from Michigan Avenue, into a city shelter that will result in the loss of many good paying jobs that help to support Chicago working families."
A spokesperson for the hotel confirmed it will be suspending operations effective Friday, resulting in employee layoffs. However, some union staff will remain there to maintain the property.