Prospect Heights approves land swap enabling hangars to replace hotel at Chicago Executive Airport

Prospect Heights officials have approved a redrawing of the property line between an office building and the site of a recently demolished hotel to enable construction of eight hangars at Chicago Executive Airport.

Sky Harbour, which owns the former site of the Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Chicago North Shore hotel, swapped equally sized, triangular parcels with the four-story Aviation Plaza building at 1098 S. Milwaukee Ave. to even out the property line between them.

The Prospect Heights City Council approved the resubdivision Monday, pending final review by the city engineer.

“The resubdivision cleans up old property lines from the days before it was Chicago Executive Airport,” Prospect Heights Building & Development Director Dan Peterson said. “It’s the first step necessary for Sky Harbour to move forward with the rest of their planning.”

While nothing changes operationally for the Aviation Plaza building, the swap prevents it from being cut off from about a dozen parking spaces in the northeast corner of its lot, Peterson added.

Mayor Patrick Ludvigsen said a map showing the old property lines highlighted in red and blue clearly defined the problem and the solution.

“It did fix a lot of things,” he said of the resubdivision. “I think this is a good thing.”

Each of Sky Harbour’s eight proposed hangars would be 37,000 square feet and likely accommodate two to three aircraft at a time, according to airport officials. The construction of the first four hangars is expected to begin later this year or early next year.

The project cost is estimated at $100 million, and the facility is projected to generate $500 million in economic activity in the first six years, before all eight hangars would be completed.

Demolition of the 58-year-old hotel in March provided roughly four of the development’s 23 acres.

Headquartered in White Plains, New York, Sky Harbour builds and manages hangars. Sky Harbour purchased the hotel property last year, but the long-term plan is for the airport to buy the site and lease it back to the company.

The airport is divided between the city of Prospect Heights and the village of Wheeling. Prospect Heights will have the permitting authority for the hangars while Wheeling retains the right to review, Peterson said.

The city has recommended a requested Class 6B tax incentive for the project to the Cook County Board. The incentive, intended to keep industrial development in Cook competitive with the collar counties, essentially cuts property taxes in half for 10 years before they gradually rise back to normal over the next two years.