Full-Service Hotel Proposed for Downtown Lake Zurich
Village board sends John Breugelmans proposal for a hotel to plan commission.
Lake Zurich’s downtown TIF district could get a big boost with a proposed 130-room hotel, southwest of Rte. 22 and Old Rand Road.
The hotel is being proposed by John Breugelmans of Lakeland Asset Management; Breugelmans was one of the developers who had proposed a development on Block A, across from the Promenade, in downtown Lake Zurich this summer. The village board decided not to go with any of the developers.
Breugelmans started his presentation saying he was trying again. He said the owner of the property, Greg Schwermer, approached him because he was impressed with Breugelman’s proposal for Block A. A sliver of the land of proposed hotel site is owned by the village.
Breugelmans brought the plan to the village board Monday night, and board members responded positively, agreeing to send the proposal to the village plan commission. The plan commission would conduct a thorough review and public hearings.
The proposal is for a seven-story, full-service hotel, with 130 rooms, a restaurant and bar, coffee shop, banquet facilities, and a landscaped rooftop garden. Breugelmans said the entire developer investment for the project would be about $20 million.
Breugelman’s said the closeness to the train tracks was one of the reasons he opted for a hotel rather than residential development at the site. “It’s a beautiful piece of land from all aspects; the train track is an obstacle,” he said, noting that hotels have substantial sound insulation.
He also noted that the proposed extension of Rte. 53, is expected to double the traffic on Rte. 22.
“The idea here is that Rte. 22, in the future, will accommodate a lot more traffic than now. With that in mind, a hotel makes a lot of sense; the nearest hotel on Rte. 22 is in Lincolnshire,” Breugelmans said.
Trustee Tom Poynton said it seemed the hotel would complement any future downtown development and help restaurants and businesses downtown. He noted that currently the downtown does not have any buildings higher than three stories.
Breugelmans said the three-story limit is a thing of the past as the village was considering allowing more stories during the discussions of Block A.
Trustee Rich Sustich asked Building Director Dan Peterson to determine the process for selling village owned land.
“I propose we find a way to move this process faster. We need to be more developer friendly,” Sustich said.
Breugelmans said if the project is approved, his group would embark on a study of four hotel groups. “We want to pick the right one; we want to be in the middle range of full service that reeks of some level quality that Lake Zurich deserves,” he said.
Ashvin Lima
6:15 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sounds like a plan! Its high time we get a swanky downtown like Deerpark or even Barrington. I guess "if you build it, they will come"! And an upmarket Hotel inevitably leads to a larger eco-system around it that's good for business!
Sandra Reid
12:24 am on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
What happened to the old Lake Zurich Hotel? I was never in it but knew it was there. Sounds like the village is growing - that's a good thing. It wasn't very big when I moved there in 1963 - Left in 1978. I didn't know there was a Holiday Inn, either!
Say it isn't so
7:05 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
We need to be more developer friendly,” Sustich said........ MORE? how about a little! then MORE.....
drs229
8:17 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Well he's obviously done his homework. The nearest hotel on 22 is Lincolnshire, how about the nearest hotel period? Does he not know there is a Holiday Inn in Lake Zurich just a few blocks from the proposed site? Is it filled to capacity so that we have a need for more rooms?
Yeah swanky like Deerpark and Barrington? Neither have 7 story buildings. How about planning a thriving downtown instead of driving companies away. A hotel does not bring a lot of business in, it supports existing business. Lake Zurich was the place to live when they had a thriving small business community. The push to go big has chased LZ to fall far in the rankings of desirable communities to live in.
Stop looking for the big money and start looking to grow a sustainable market of shops, restaurants and small businesses. Why on earth would several hundred people ever need to spend the night in a town filled with vacant run down lots?
catherine savage
8:34 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
This hotel could not be more generic, unspecial, inappropriately large and unattractive. It is not clear to me how plopping a hulking mess on that property is going to jump-start a downtown renaissance. Why can't anyone manage to propose something that residents can be excited about? Every proposal is worse than the last.
Marie
8:51 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
With one hotel already in LZ, and limited reason to stop and stay here (we aren't exactly a tourist destination), I'm not seeing the necessity for this additional hotel. Basing this off a route 53 expansion seems quite a stretch. you may drive more local traffic up 22, but how many need a place to spend the night? I also agree with Catherine above; that building is plain horrible.
Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way
10:35 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
There is also a Hampton Inn in Deer Park, a mere 3.14 miles away.
Resident 225
9:53 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Trustees are still not listening!! Residents want a downtown destination that will draw people to visit our restaurants, retail, etc. This hotel is putting the horse before the cart. We have nothing to draw anyone to our downtown. Until we do we don't need a hotel. OPEN YOUR EARS TRUSTEES AND LISTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Susan
12:43 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Obviously, the residents of this town would love to have something like a downtown Naperville, Arlington Heights or even Deer Park & Barrington. What do we get? Sonic Burger, Auto Parts stores, more bargain haicuts, an abandoned Omega restaurant & a rotting KMart building! Don't even get me started on the 'Promenade" which you couldn't use if you wanted to since we don't normally spray for mosquitos! And what are we walking around to see? We ALL would appreciate this Village's so-called leaders to step up & make an attempt to get some REAL restaurants & businesses in this town! Even Wauconda has opened some new spots...Wine & Martini Bars, Bulldogs, Slyce Pizza.....need I say more? It's time this board works at getting some quality businesses in here & fix up this ghost town. And as far as a new hotel....we'd have to send the patrons to another town to get a decent meal or go shopping............It's pathetic.
Claudia Lenart
12:56 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
In all fairness to the developer, he did address the Holiday Inn ( I do not include everything said at a meeting-- you can watch the meeting video for that) which does not have banquet rooms nor a restaurant. He feels the banquet facility/meeting rooms would be the big draw for this hotel. The drawing is a very rough sketch, as the project proceeds, it would be more detailed.
Marie
8:28 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
But we already have Concordia Banquets in Lake Zurich, and hotel restaurants aren't typically known for their fine dining. I'd like to see his resident survey which shows that there is unmet need for this. Quite often a developer decides something needs to be built because he has a client who is ready to pay him to build it. I have never seen residents surveyed formally indicating we feel a dearth of banquet space or hotel space in Lake Zurich.
Coy One
1:20 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
If this goes in, wonder if it’ll be called "The Farman Hotel - Redux" !?!
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-115188496.html
http://www.eapl.org/lakezurich/burgess/Farmans.asp
Also, with the CN railroad tracks being close to the site, maybe the old
PLZ & W Railroad can be resurrected!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatine,_Lake_Zurich_and_Wauconda_Railroad
Back to the Future? --- or, is history repeating itself?!!
Maybe it's just this Village going around in circles
Sandra Reid
12:28 am on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Is the Alpine motif not mandatory any longer??
Marie
8:29 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
Take a look at LA Fitness for the answer to that.
Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way
10:22 am on Friday, October 19, 2012
Thankfully that was done away with a few years ago.
G Schwermer
9:42 am on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
This project will do for the TIF what it needs in tax revenue going forward and this is big with what will be coming to this village in 2014 with the burden that it has. No small restaurants and or boutique shops will help the burden that is coming. Plus the fact that this project dos not impact the school district or traffic in the down town lake front area will be a bonus. Also the design that you see from the rendering is just to show the size of the building only, the final design will be one that will impress and have a great presence for the village to be a destination for any one that come from outside the area. So if this village wants to get the TIF finally going forward this project will be the one to do it.
Karen
11:08 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012
I think the Alpine theme has run its course. I have noticed that any building that have gone up are just generic, no themes. I do agree that a nice hotel would bring more people to our town or if passing thru might be apt to stop. But what they would be stopping for is a mystery to me. Shops are still empty, land still sits vacant and developments that should have been done 10 years ago are still plans on paper. A hopping town we are not.
Tea drinker
9:01 am on Sunday, January 13, 2013
I used to work at the Marriott Lincolnshire. For a long time, it was the only game in town. Every hotel has it's ups and downs, it's empty nights and it's sold out nights. The thing that would sell out a hotel is a sales staff tobring in conventions and meetings, but it would need a restaurant and banquet rooms.
Those rooms could be used for other meetings and weddings. And a hotel in our area would be helpful during holidays when families need roooms to house visiting family members.
All in all, a hotel in downtown LZ would have to pull it's own weight to sell rooms. It doesn't necessarily need a thriving downtown to make it succesful. But to have a hotel there would help with the ( hopefully) continued growth of LZ in general.