Arlington Downs faces just one more hurdle

Arlington Downs, a development proposed for the site of the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, sailed through the Arlington Heights Plan Commission Wednesday night and will seek final approval from the village board in February.

The hotel at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Rohlwing Road, which has been vacant since late 2009, would be remodeled into as many as 200 luxury apartments, and the Coco Key water park would be tied into a new family-friendly hotel with up to 150 rooms. Developers said they hope to complete these two parts of the project by March, 2013.

All nine members of the plan commission praised the developers and their ideas for the property and voted to recommend it.

The village staff predicts the project could bring up to $1.45 million annually to the municipality. All the taxing bodies involved, including school and park districts, could get almost $4.3 million in property taxes each year. The Sheraton provided $570,000 annually from taxes in sales categories to the village from 2000 to 2008.

Coco Key was actually profitable when the hotel failed, said Carl Groesbeck, a partner in the Argent Group, which is leading the development. The mistake was trying to make one hotel work for both families and businesspeople, he said.

Water Park Ventures Management Services, which is based in Wisconsin Dells and operates large water parks, has joined as a partner in the water park and the hotel, said Gary Wendt of the Argent Group.

Eventually — perhaps by the end of 2015 — new construction would include more apartments, a second business hotel and retail shops and restaurants.

Groesbeck also expressed the developers’ confidence in the success of the rental housing.

The area has the tightest rental market in the Chicago area, said Mark Matthews, founder of Argent.

The developers plan to eventually include up to 24 units of affordable housing for military veterans.

The main zoning variation that commissioners commented on was the reduction in the amount of parking required on certain parts of the site. Parking would be re-evaluated throughout the development process, according to the village staff and the developers. The tallest building on the property would be 228 feet, compared with 161 feet for the old hotel and 153 for the tallest building in downtown Arlington Heights.