Huntley, Lake in the Hills courting hotel developers

The villages of Huntley and Lake in the Hills are courting hotel developers citing a growing demand from local businesses and new developments in the region.

Huntley is seeing increased interest from hotel developers since the completion of the Route 47/Interstate 90 full interchange, and work on the Centegra hospital and Weber grills' distribution plant kicking into gear.

"It is one of our initiatives in 2015 to work aggressively on getting a hotel," said Margo Griffin, Huntley business development coordinator. "It's our goal to work with developers and see what we can get going on it. Route 47/I-90 would be the key area. We don't have a specific site in mind. ... The interchange and hospital projects, just the fact that our community is growing residentially, industrially, commercially, even the Del Webb community has voiced for a long time they would love to see a hotel here for families to visit."

Huntley officials plan to do a communitywide survey this year. Already, businesses such as Weber Stephen Products and Life Spine medical research firm have voiced a desire for a hotel in town.

Officials say the area is rife for a hotel being built.

Lake in the Hills has conducted a hospitality study that identifies three viable sites for a hotel - roughly 133 acres owned by Hanson Material north of the village's airport and south of Rakow Road; five acres north of the former Dominick's site at the northeast corner of Randall and Algonquin roads; and a vacant cluster of properties totaling five acres at the northeast corner of Algonquin and Lakewood roads near the new Centegra Hospital in Huntley.

"We don't currently have a hotel, but the need or demand that is being unmet is strong," said Gino DeVivo, Lake in the Hills economic development coordinator. "It would be a very positive financial gain to the village. It also has far reaching economic benefits as far as providing services to ancillary industries."

Existing hotels in the area include Hampton Inn in McHenry, Quality Inn in Woodstock, and Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake. There are no extended-stay hotels in the region, per the study.

The study determined the market could support a 60- to 80-room hotel with midlevel pricing, such as a Hilton Garden Inn.

The development could cost an estimated $5.67 million, per the study.

"We toured every site available within our target area," DeVivo said. "We've reached out to a number of hospitality brands for several years. They indicated the need for a hospitality study to validate site feasibility."

Location is key

Of the three location options, village officials are excited about the property north of the defunct Dominick's, which they have been trying to promote for a while. It is surrounded by numerous fast food eateries and sit-down restaurants, and a movie theater.

A portion of the site is being developed as three 5,000-square-foot medical office buildings with a commercial component by Restart Investments.

Joe Billitteri, managing partner of Restart Investments, said a hotel would be great at that location.

"It's a fantastic spot for both communities - Algonquin and Lake in the Hills," Billitteri said. "We've paid for a more in-depth hotel study specifically just for that site right now. That should be ready in January. That's needed to go to the next step."

Once the cost and needs analysis is complete, the developer will look to secure financing for the project and negotiate with the city, he added.

"It may be a combination of hotel rooms and extended-stay rooms," Billitteri said. "We're looking at an 80- to 90-room hotel. We're hoping to also benefit the old Dominick's site."

A hotel near the municipal airport also could be beneficial for the region.

"The village has been working with the property owner to develop this unused surplus land to a marketable piece of property for future development," DeVivo said.

"That area has good soil conditions. The topography is very similar to other (sites) that have large developments on them. We're doing all that we can to help or facilitate to promote our market and the sites that are available."

Lake in the Hills will have to adopt a hotel/motel tax.

"That's where we can be competitive," DeVivo said. "Our current incentives are based on sales tax. We are competing with neighboring communities, but on the business retention and job creation side we work close together with McHenry County Economic Development Corporation."