Developer plans youth hockey complex in Elk Grove Village
Mirroring what he built in Mount Prospect and is now building in Rosemont, developer Nick Papanicholas Jr. confirmed long-rumored plans for an indoor ice rink in Elk Grove Village to serve the burgeoning suburban youth hockey community.
Construction could begin as soon as next month on the twin-sheet Elk Grove Ice Arena on the northwest corner of Meacham and Biesterfield roads. A Staples office supplies store there is expected to close soon; a former Aldi store next door has been vacant since the grocer relocated down the block in 2018.
“This is going to be more than just sheets of ice. This is going to be a place where people want to be,” said Papanicholas, of Mount Prospect-based development firms Nicholas & Associates Inc. and Wingspan Development Group.
He noted plans include a second-floor restaurant, ground-level grab-and-go store, study areas and physical therapy clinic.
PREP, Northwest Chargers and Chicago Mission are among the youth hockey groups that will get regular ice time there, Papanicholas said.
Elk Grove Village’s board agreed to buy the 9.7-acre property at 610-620 Meacham Road for $4.5 million last January, but until this week, the site was encumbered by a reciprocal easement agreement that prevented the village and Papanicholas from moving ahead with plans for the hockey arena.
Mayor Craig Johnson said Home Depot, which would neighbor the ice rink, signed off on the proposed development. That paves the way for a closing on the village’s purchase — from the four limited liability companies that control the property — before the end of the month.
The board this week also executed an early lease termination with Staples that takes effect at closing.
Meanwhile, village officials and Papanicholas are still negotiating a redevelopment agreement the board is expected to consider in August or September. Johnson vowed the village would be paid back for its investment into the property.
“That’s been unfortunately an eyesore for way too long,” Johnson said. “We finally said it’s time for the village to step in and get this thing moving. It’s not right to have it sitting like this for this long.”
Papanicholas said community ice rink projects are difficult to make financially viable, and couldn’t be done without the municipality’s help.
“Ice arenas are not projects that are profit centers. They are totally community passion projects,” he said. “They bring vibrancy, they bring visitors, they bring tournaments, they bring showcases, they bring people here. The hotels thrive. The restaurants thrive. And really just putting Elk Grove Village on the map not just for Illinois hockey but for all of the Midwest.”
Papanicholas and his family’s foray into the ice arena business came nearly a decade ago, with the adaptive reuse of a vacant commercial building in Mount Prospect’s Kensington Business Center. The project was born out of a desire to find a closer place for his kids’ club hockey team to play.
Then last September, Papanicholas broke ground on a $34.5 million, 103,000-square-foot ice rink just north of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. It’s quickly taken shape, and the first puck is scheduled to be dropped Aug. 19.
He’s planning just as aggressive of a construction schedule in Elk Grove, hoping to open in August 2026.
A public hearing before the plan commission is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 4.