Hotel proposal for Route 59 at center of dispute between Aurora, developer

The fighters were introduced, did some smack-talking and even touched gloves before the heavyweight battle for Aurora's next hotel was postponed until next week.

During a confrontational committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, aldermen advanced Aurora developer Lee Fry's proposal for a 95-room Hilton Hampton Inn Suites in the Meijer lot he owns on Route 59 north of New York Street, to city council next week without a unanimous decision. The plan is likely to fail.

Fry and his partners have been working with city staff for nearly two years but were delayed six months, last October, by a city moratorium on limited-service hotels, which expired in March.

Mayor Tom Weisner and Eighth Ward Alderman Richard Mervine specifically argued their concerns Tuesday that a new hotel on the city's far east side could cause the demise of other hotels in the area based on a recent study showing almost no demand for new hotel rooms in Aurora.

Fry and his development partners, however, trust their market analysis that projects the hotel would draw business away from Lisle, Naperville and Warrenville hotels.

"I think it's imprudent on their part to take that ($12 million) risk in this situation, and it's their money and everything else," Mervine said. "But the reality is my concern is for the existing buildings that are here, and I don't want us to end up with large structures that are all of a sudden empty and maybe for a longer period of time, because it is almost impossible to repurpose them. We can only turn so many into senior centers."

Jack Moran, president of Indianapolis-based National Lodging and Leisure, which develops and manages Hilton Hotels, has been to Aurora six times, half of which he said have been confrontational.

He said he doesn't understand why the city would stand in the way of a national chain putting its "gold standard" for service hotels on a lot that is zoned for hotels without asking for a dollar or any city incentives.

"I've been doing this 35 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Moran, who believes the project is being stalled for political reasons beyond his control.

"Everywhere we go working on a hotel project, we're welcome with open arms and municipalities just offer incentives, fees, permits - you name it," he said. "And we're talking about some very upscale markets. But here, in Aurora, we're treated like a redheaded stepchild. We've had a very bad experience here."

George Pappas, the development company's vice president of operations, said he was offended by Mervine's and other aldermen's lack of confidence in the project.

Pappas claims a "Hampton Inn has never failed since its inception in 1974."

"For someone who has no experience in the hotel field, no expertise that disputes people who have written feasibility studies, who disputes Smith Travel Research Company that every major company reports to and uses as a Bible for marketing and building their hotel, is ridiculous," Pappas said. "For someone with no experience to say 'my gut tells me this won't work,' worries me a lot."

Despite the unlikelihood that the project is approved Tuesday, Pappas said they would like to move forward with the project but have not ruled out legal action against the city if the plan is again blocked.

"We like Aurora. We'd like to build here. We'd like to be part of the community. We'd like to be a corporate citizen. We would love to be in this market," Pappas said. "We believe that we bring a superior product to the city, and we believe we would do the city very proud with our Hilton product."

The council will discuss the project one final time at 6 p.m. Tuesday at city hall.