Hoffman Estates beer garden pitched for 2015
A proposal for a German-style beer garden hoped to be fast-tracked for the use of Hoffman Estates' Village Green this summer has been delayed for at least a year.
In a letter sent to village officials late Monday afternoon, DasBier Garden LLC President Andrew Hartman asked to postpone the conversation planned to take place at that evening's village board meeting until the fall.
Hartman's letter cited the short time frame left to him to set up and market the summertime beer garden he'd proposed for the village-owned space in the Prairie Stone Business Park off Route 72 and just west of the Sears Centre Arena.
"We are very much still interested in opening the beer garden at the Village Green site however we feel planning for the 2015 season will allow both parties more opportunity to fine tune the agreement and launch the grand opening with huge success," Hartman wrote.
When he appeared before the village board last month, Hartman was given little feedback on the merits of his idea. Instead, officials were most concerned he had not even finished incorporating the limited liability company to which he wanted the village to lease the use of the site.
The conversation was deferred to the meeting of June 2 assuming DasBier LLC would be fully incorporated by then. And it was on May 27.
Hartman's plan calls for 40 picnic tables with seating for 240 to 320 patrons. The facility would operate daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with alcohol sales ending at 9 p.m., from June 1 to Oct. 31 each year.
In return for allowing the operation, the village would receive a license fee of 20 percent of gross revenue on all alcoholic beverage sales and 10 percent of gross revenue on all food and nonalcoholic beverage sales.
The beer garden would not be open the week of the village's FourthFest, during Thursday night summer concerts at the Village Green or during Platzkonzert, the village's own Germanfest celebration, typically held in September.
In his letter Monday, Hartman asked if these blackout dates could be renegotiated for 2015. Speaking after Monday's meeting, McLeod said they absolutely could not, as public festivals would always take precedence.