A new year, a new developer needed in Rosemont

Rosemont is pinning its hopes on a new year yielding a new project at the location where a water park and resort were once planned.

Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens later this month will travel to Baltimore to meet with a multibillion-dollar development company about adding to the village's entertainment district.

Stephens will meet with Baltimore-based The Cordish Co. and tour one of its projects: a 300,000-square-foot retail and entertainment development that incorporates a row of nearly century-old brick townhouses in Baltimore.

Stephens will be joined on the day trip by a village attorney and a representative of a real estate company handling development at the area.

Rosemont needs a "quarterback" with the best ideas to develop the project, Stephens said.

"We're looking at more interactive things that conventioneers and business clientele are going to be using," Stephens said.

Plans for a bowling alley also have been floated by a different developer.

Rosemont welcomed a multiscreen, deluxe movie theater last fall, marking the first addition to its entertainment district.

Last August, plans for a $100 million water park resort around the site formerly pitched as a casino location unraveled about a year after being announced.

Rosemont is trying to reverse that loss with a new plan to accentuate its entertainment district off Balmoral Avenue just west of River Road off the Tri-State Tollway.

Cordish has some rivals in the race to pitch plans for the Rosemont site.

Later this month, a developer from California will visit Rosemont to talk about plans. Village officials also are talking with a Michigan-based developer.

"We'll see what financially is the best plan for the village. Then, we'll make a determination: what is the best plan overall for the village," Stephens said.