Holiday Inn Express could be Lombard's next hotel
An oddly shaped plot of land next to a retention pond in Lombard soon could become a new lodging option for suburban visitors and business travelers.
Yorktown Hotel LLC of Bolingbrook is proposing a four-story, 96-room Holiday Inn Express with an indoor pool at 2100 St. Regis Drive, north of Greek Islands restaurant on 22nd Street.
The hotel would require some zoning variances to landscaping, side yard size and signage requirements, but the village board could grant preliminary approval during a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at village hall, 255 E. Wilson Ave.
Bill Heniff, community development director, said the variances are necessary largely because of the curvy geometry of the roads bordering the property, St. Regis Drive on the east and Northlake Road on the north.
"It is an unusually shaped piece of land," Heniff said about the 1.8-acre site. "I don't think there's a straight line anywhere on it."
The site is near three of Lombard's 10 hotels, Extended Stay America, 2701 Technology Drive; SureStay Plus, 222 E. 22nd St.; and Sonesta ES Suites, 2001 S. Highland Ave. Another half-mile or so southeast is the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, the village's largest hotel and banquet center.
"We thought that this would be a compatible use given that there's several other hotels in the area and restaurants and offices," Heniff said. "So it kind of fits."
The hotel plans to build 96 parking spaces, which is less than the 110 required under village code. But Heniff said the village reconsidered its requirements for hotel parking and is proposing a change.
Instead of mandating one space for each guest room, plus one for each employee during peak staffing, Heniff said the village wants to simplify the standard to one spot per room.
Lombard's average hotel occupancy rate is 72.2 percent, according to the DuPage Convention and Visitors Bureau. But during an assessment of hotel parking occupancy Jan. 9, village staff members saw of 33 percent of spaces on average were used. So Heniff said reducing the number of required spaces seems reasonable.
The village board could consider the parking reduction during its Thursday meeting as well. Both the parking change and the Holiday Inn proposal would require final approval at a later meeting, likely Feb. 15.