Back to drawing board for Freedom Plaza development
It has been said the 9 acres on Abriter Court just north of Diehl Road, in the Illinois Research & Development Corridor, has been vacant “since God made it.”And it's going to remain that way for a while longer. Council members voted 6 to 3 Tuesday night to deny the linchpin element of the proposed Freedom Plaza development.Developers were proposing a 165-room full-service Embassy Suites hotel with a 20,000-square-foot conference facility, free-standing Pita Inn restaurant and a CRL River Walk Manor Alzheimer's assisted-living facility. The developer, Indiana-based Superhost Enterprises, says Freedom Plaza would have an economic impact of $153.9 million on Naperville and a $180.6 million on DuPage County over the next five years.But city staff members and the planning and development committee both recommended against the project because the property is zoned for research and technology offices, hotels and restaurants, not a senior living facility.Councilman Grant Wehrli said he believes in the city's land use plan for the corridor and could not support ignoring the plan just because of a poor economy.#8220;This has languished long enough,#8221; Wehrli said. #8220;It's time to make a command decision. It's a bad idea. I'm ready to continue the tradition of making other people jealous of Naperville because we do things right here.#8221;Councilmen Steve Chirico, Paul Hinterlong and Doug Krause supported the project with the expectations that the project would create 240 permanent jobs, 650 construction jobs during the duration of the project and 350 support jobs including attorneys, printers and marketers.Councilwoman Judy Brodhead said she was disturbed by several commenters who insinuated any opposing votes to the project were anti-jobs votes.#8220;Many other health care facilities wouldn't have been considered seriously but I don't see us as the group holding it up,#8221; Brodhead said. #8220;The petitioner needs a better plan. We've had a good strong master plan for a long time. I trust staff's judgment and cannot support it in its current form.#8221;Samir Lakhany, vice president of Superhost Enterprise, said his organization has studied the site for more than three years before deciding it was right for their proposal, including the health facility. Access and visibility from I-88 were key factors, he said. And without the CRL Alzheimer care facility, the project is dead.#8220;I'm shocked. I thought we had good conversations and things were going well. We were not expecting this,#8221; Lakhany said following the vote. #8220;I'm not sure where we go from here or what we do because we were confident it would be approved. I'm just shocked.#8221;