The Tremont
From the historic Tremont House to the modern hotel at 100 East Chestnut Street.
A name woven into Chicago’s history
The Tremont name connects two stories: the nineteenth-century Tremont House, one of Chicago’s earliest and most important hotels, and the later Tremont Hotel on the city’s Magnificent Mile. This page preserves that story as an archive following the property’s closure.
Chicago’s first Tremont
The original Tremont House was a three-story wooden hotel at the northwest corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets. Associated with Ira Couch and named after Boston’s Tremont House, it represented Chicago’s transition from frontier settlement to growing commercial city. The building was destroyed in Chicago’s major fire of 1839.
Rebuilding after fire
A second Tremont House rose after the first fire, but it too was destroyed in 1849. The repeated rebuilding established a pattern that would define the hotel’s reputation: resilience in a city where fire, mud, rapid growth and construction continually reshaped downtown.
The landmark hotel
The third Tremont House was built in brick in 1850 and became one of the leading hotels in the American West. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas launched their 1858 Senate campaigns from the hotel’s balcony. During the 1860 Republican National Convention, the Tremont served as a base for Lincoln’s campaign supporters.
Raised with the city streets
As Chicago raised the grade of its downtown streets, the Tremont House was lifted several feet while occupied. The work is associated with George Pullman and became one of the city’s best-known engineering feats. The hotel was also substantially remodeled and enlarged during this period.
Fireproof rebuilding and a changing city
The Great Chicago Fire destroyed the third Tremont House in October 1871. A fourth Tremont House opened in 1873 on the historic site, promoted as a fire-resistant reconstruction. The building later accommodated Northwestern University programs before it disappeared from the cityscape in 1937.
From apartment hotel to renewed Tremont
The building now associated with the address was constructed in 1926 as the Mozart Apartment Hotel, designed by architects Olsen and Urbain. In the 1970s, John Coleman acquired the property and revived the Tremont name, reconnecting the modern hotel with Chicago’s older lodging tradition.
Magnificent Mile hospitality
The Tremont operated as a 15-story, 122-room hotel at 100 East Chestnut Street, between Michigan Avenue and Rush Street. It became known for its convenient Magnificent Mile location and its association with Ditka’s restaurant. Starwood Hotels and Resorts acquired the property in 1998, while the Tremont identity continued.
Closure and temporary reuse
The hotel closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. It later reopened under the Selina brand, but that operation did not continue. In 2023 and 2024, the vacant property was temporarily used by the City of Chicago as a shelter before that use ended in September 2024.
A property awaiting its next chapter
The building at 100 East Chestnut Street is no longer operating as the Tremont Chicago. After closing in 2020, it briefly operated as Selina Chicago and later served as a temporary City of Chicago shelter.
In January 2026, the 15-story, 122-room former hotel was sold to Avasa Hospitality for about $13.2 million. No public plan for its future use or a hotel reopening has yet been announced.