Groundbreaking soon on hotel, restaurants, gas station in Des Plaines
Construction on a massive $28 million redevelopment of the northeast corner of Mannheim and Higgins roads in Des Plaines should begin in less than two weeks, officials said.
The development, to be called The Orchards at O'Hare, will include a five-story, 130-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel with 6,500-square-foot restaurant, BP gas station with 16 pumps, a tunnel car wash, a convenience store with Subway and coffee/doughnut shop, and a 6,550-square-foot free-standing restaurant.
The developer, Pearlshire/Bask Development Group, is planning to break ground as early as Monday, Aug. 15, according to Des Plaines City Manager Mike Bartholomew.
The city council Monday gave its unanimous approval to the final planned unit development and plat of subdivision, paving the way for shovels to be in the ground.
Des Plaines officials have been trying to develop the property for years, and previous proposals to build hotels, restaurants and a parking garage fell through.
In February, the council voted 7-1 to sell 4.5 acres of the city-owned land to the developer for $1.5 million, while also approving an economic incentive agreement worth $7.5 million in the form of tax increment financing dollars and rebates for sales and hotel tax revenue.
The development expanded to a total of nine acres in March when the city purchased nearby vacant land from the Rosemont Park District - extra land that will provide more parking for the hotel.
The developer has an option to buy an additional piece of city land south of Willow Creek.
An attorney for the developer said construction would first begin on the hotel, gas station and car wash. Then, work would begin on the free-standing restaurant. The gas station and car wash is expected to open in the spring of 2017, and the hotel and restaurant would open in the summer of 2017.