It didn’t take long for developers to jump back on the bandwagon for the hotel market, only just now showing the first signs of recovery from a prolonged and deep slump.
In the past two weeks, two projects have been announced-one for a 658-room convention hotel at River Road and Williams Street across from the Rosemont Exposition Center, and a three-story project that represents the first new hotel construction in downtown Aurora in 68 years.
In Rosemont, the village and Aerie Hotels and Resorts jointly announced plans for the hotel, which will include an 11,000-square-foot ballroom, 9,000 square feet of meeting space and both a fine dining and casual restaurant.
“This site represents the best location for development of a new hotel that we have seen,” said Joseph Duellman, president of Aerie Hotels and Resorts, citing Rosemont’s proximity to O’Hare International Airport and nearby meeting, exposition and entertainment space.
No price was put on the project, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 1997.
Aerie is a hotel and resort developer and manager that includes among its Illinois projects the Eagle Ridge Inn & Resort in Galena, the Silver Eagle Casino Cruise in East Dubuque and the Essex Hotel in Chicago.
The Aurora Hotel will be built and operated by Comfort Suites, which will offer 83 rooms at Broadway and Spring Street, next to the city’s historic Roundhouse.
The neoclassical-style structure will feature an indoor pool, workout room, children’s playroom and conference facilities. The $3.2 million project is expected to be completed early in 1995.
“We feel the market is here for this type of product in downtown Aurora,” said Rocky Pintozzi of Comfort Suites. “This will be a four-star hotel that business people and tourists throughout the area will find useful and convenient.”
The Pintozzi family has been in the hotel business for 25 years, noted Aurora Mayor David Pierce, and owns the Comfort Inn at Fox Valley Villages that opened on the city’s east side in 1990.
Back to school
Marillac High School, a three-building, 150,000-square-foot campus at 315 Waukegan Rd. in north suburban Northfield, has been purchased from the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul by the Association of Christian Heritage Academy for an undisclosed price.
Henry Mawicke, the principal with Bennett & Kahnweiler who represented the seller, said the new owners will relocate their Northbrook grade school operation to the site this fall.
The Marillac property became available following the school’s affiliation with Loyola Academy in Wilmette, where Marillac students will begin attending classes this month.
The high school, built in 1967 on 15 acres, includes a two-story academic building housing classrooms, library and lecture halls; an activities building with gymnasium, student center, cafeteria and 900-seat theater; an administrative building; and athletic fields and parking facilities.
Other leases and sales
United Healthcare of Illinois, which earlier this year signed the largest office lease of the year in downtown Chicago for 190,000 square feet at One South Wacker Drive, has expanded that lease by another 37,000 square feet to bring its total commitment in the building to 225,700. Mark Buth, vice president of building owner The Walken Co., represented the building, while Lee Golub, senior vice president at Goulb & Co., represented the tenant, which expects to complete occupancy of the space with its Share Illinois and Chicago HMO units this weekend.
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Steve Kerch’s columns appear in Real Estate on Sunday and in Your Money on Thursday.
