Inside the Aloft hotel and apartment building

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -

The Aloft Hotel building downtown is taking shape.

The former Chase Tower of downtown South Bend will reopen with a new purpose this summer.

“It will be great,” Ted Tsiokas, senior project manager said.

Tsiokas is part of Washington Square Development, the group giving the building a makeover.

He says the next few months will be very busy for construction.

“It’s a very exciting time. At the same time, it’s a very stressful time for us, but I think we’re going to be opening this summer,” Tsiokas said.

The building will still have both hotels and apartments.

However, the luxury apartments won’t open until 2018.

Many units will have balconies. There will also be an outdoor area for dogs.

The first floor of the building will be a lobby with a bar.

Hotel rooms should be open in the summer.

Most rooms are all but complete, just needing carpet.

“It’s a very exciting time for South Bend downtown. It’s something that we are very proud to be part of it, to revive the downtown,” Tsiokas said.