Lombard’s vision of a high-powered Butterfield Road corridor seems to be well within the village’s reach with confirmation of building plans for 10 unincorporated acres along Technology Drive.
Village planners first revealed last fall that the site east of the Embassy Suites Hotel and across Butterfield Road from the proposed Fountain Square development would be used for a hotel-restaurant complex.
David Hulseberg, Lombard’s community development director, verified that the Homestead Village company is lined up to develop the property.
Coupled with plans by Chicago-based Shaw Co. to develop its 51 acres just north of the Technology Drive parcel, the opportunity for a new gateway to the village is becoming apparent.
The two developments together could mean three new hotels and as many as seven new restaurants for the immediate area on either side of Butterfield.
“This is a chance for us to provide a better entryway into the village,” Hulseberg said. “We want to attract people out of the Oak Brook area and pull them west into Lombard.”
Hulseberg said plans for the Technology Drive site include a 136-room, Homestead Village extended-stay facility, a second hotel of up to 12 stories and a restaurant.
Hulseberg would not reveal the restaurant tenant, but said it is a widely known entity in the Chicago area.
Lombard planners always have considered the Technology Drive land a special parcel sandwiched between the East-West Tollway and Butterfield Road. Hulseberg said the site had limited potential for retail development, which led planners to believe it would one day be developed with offices, hotels or restaurants.
Hulseberg and other officials said last fall they were looking forward to seeing building plans for the property in early 1998.
Planners said Homestead Village, which is under contract to purchase the site, will have to take the parcel through annexation proceedings.
“But this makes sense for this property,” Hulseberg said. “Our comprehensive plan calls for this, and it’s a vision the village has embraced.”
Earlier this month, the Lombard Village Board gave preliminary approval to plans for Fountain Square at the northwest corner of Butterfield and Meyers Roads.
Plans for that property include up to six condominium buildings, four to six restaurants, two retail structures, at least one hotel and possibly office space.
The final piece in Lombard’s Butterfield Road puzzle is further west at the northwest corner of Butterfield Road and Highland Avenue.
The Allerton Ridge property, where controversial work to move grave sites to a 15-acre section in the northeast corner of the property was completed last year, remains for sale.
Lombard planners have said they eventually would like to see a mixed-use complex similar to what has been offered for the Fountain Square property on the remaining 34 acres at Allerton Ridge.
