Independent developers continued the renovation on the inside and turned the former office building into a 103 room, 19 suite "boutique" hotel. The first floor elevator lobby had been restored to it's original marble and ornate iron design. The central stairway, with all of its ornamental iron work was also restored. In addition to the original open stairway, new stairways needed to be added as well in order to comply with existing fire codes. Marble and mahogany were brought in to either replace what had been there or to enhance the character of the now upscale hotel. In keeping with the buildings original use, each of the guest room doors uses a frosted glass look with simple gold leaf numbering, reminiscent of a turn-of-the-century office building. Added to the hotel was a lobby and reception area as well as a restaurant. Both of which are appointed with period appropriate details. $30 million after the project had begun, The Reliance Building became The Burnham Hotel, named for it's original architect Daniel J. Burnham. The hotel opened in late 1999.
The transformation of The Reliance Building into The Burnham Hotel returns to Chicago an irreplaceable first edition. There may be more bathrooms now than there were before, and a restaurant where prior there was none. But without a doubt, Chicago can once again be proud to display to the world an achievement they can rightly call their own - the modern skyscraper.
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