Hotel breaks ground in Roselle

It's been on their wish list for decades.

Roselle village officials always have wanted a hotel in town. This holiday season, they're getting it.

A new Country Inn and Suites hotel and banquet hall broke ground Thursday at Gary Avenue and Lake Street, where Roselle borders Hanover Park.

The developer, Swift Hospitality Group of Freeport, hopes to open by August. The 67,526-square-foot facility will feature more than 100 rooms. It will be attached to a 23,548-square-foot banquet hall and conference center.

"It's an amenity that we've never had," Mayor Gayle Smolinski said. "Now we'll be able to hold many events in Roselle."

Last but not least, Smolinski said the village is excited because it will finally be able to exercise its hotel and motel tax. The hotel will generate at least $80,000 a year in hotel taxes -- along with other taxes.

"It could even be higher than that. There also will be a property impact tax," Director of Development Patrick Watkins said. "It's going to have quite an impact on the tax rolls."

The village can use the money to help pay for its annual festivals, Fourth of July fireworks and other events, Smolinski said.

But the hotel is only one portion of the 20-acre development at that intersection.

A new retail center, called Cornerstone Plaza, already broke ground at the northeast corner of Lake Street and Gary Avenue. Three commercial buildings that will house anywhere from 18 to 24 new retail businesses already have popped up. Village officials expect several businesses to open by February or March.

Also nearby, construction started on roughly 34 townhouses west of the existing Waterbury subdivision.

The entire development could be complete by fall.