Schaumburg revisiting plans for performing arts center

Ten years after Schaumburg's Renaissance Hotel and convention center opened their doors, village officials are revisiting the feasibility of building a performing arts center next door — and examining whether a recent increase in nearby hotels has left room for one more.

Trustees Tuesday recommended approval of a $150,000 feasibility study for the performing arts theater from Minneapolis-based consulting firm HGA.

If approved next Tuesday, the contract would complete the feasibility study by late September and, if necessary, a preliminary design for such a building by year's end.

A performing arts center had been proposed to be built simultaneously with the convention center and Renaissance Hotel. But that part of the project was put on hold due to financial concerns.

The most recent feasibility study on the center was done in 2007 by Daniel P. Coffey & Associates. It suggested the center could be built for $82 million and that an adjacent 550-space parking structure would cost an additional $15.5 million.

Village board members again passed on the project at that time for similar reasons.

Trustees on Tuesday also heard the results of a recent hotel market analysis for the area from the Chicago-based firm HVS.

The study was commissioned due to the opening of five new hotels with a total of 434 rooms in the village in 2016 — a 16 percent increase in Schaumburg's capacity.

A combined Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express was recently proposed to bring another 182 rooms to a site on Martingale Road by 2018.

The report by HVS Managing Director Tom Hazinski suggested that the Holiday Inn proposal could be considered on its own merits without fear of oversaturating the market.

While the historical hub for hotels in Schaumburg is nearly built out, the redevelopment of the Motorola Solutions campus could create new opportunities in the future, Hazinski said.