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Upcoming seven-story Hyde Park hotel will be called ‘Sophy’

The South Side project draws its name from the Greek word for knowledge

By Jay Koziarz
Image courtesy of GREC

A 98-room boutique hotel project headed to Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood will officially be known as ‘Sophy.’ According to a report this month from industry website Hotel Business, the name is derived from Sophia—the Greek word for knowledge—as a nod to the development’s proximity to the University of Chicago.

Under construction at the corner of 53rd Street and Dorchester Avenue since this spring, the seven-story project comes from co-developers Olympia Companies and Smart Hotels as well as Chicago-based design architect GREC. Plans also call for a bar, restaurant, library, fitness center, and a green roof.

Sophy’s interiors will come from the Stonehill & Taylor firm of New York. The decor is expected to draw inspiration from the 1893 Columbian Exposition as well as incorporate local cultural and intellectual figures like singer Mahalia Jackson, writer Saul Bellow, and physicist Enrico Fermi.

Slated to open in the summer of 2018, Sophy will serve not only the University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus, but also the upcoming Obama Presidential Center. To meet the area’s expected influx of visitors, the U of C is also planning a 15-story ‘Study’ hotel of its own at the corner of 60th and Dorchester.

Jay Koziarz
Jay Koziarz

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