New Carol Stream hotel could open next summer

Construction of an extended-stay hotel is under way near a prominent corner in Carol Stream.

Crews last week completed foundation work for the WoodSpring Suites, a four-story, 123-room hotel that will be built along the west side of Gary Avenue, just south of Stark Drive. The project could wrap up in late summer or early fall 2018, depending on the weather, village officials say.

"They're moving along out there," said Tom Farace, the village's planning and economic development manager.

Holladay Properties, a real estate firm based in South Bend, Indiana, has purchased the vacant, 3-acre site near a corridor that carries roughly 35,000 vehicles a day. The Carol Stream development is part of an expansion of the WoodSpring chain into the suburbs.

Holladay developed its first hotel, the Inn at Saint Mary's, built in 1991 across the street from the University of Notre Dame.

The company acquired the rights to develop 15 WoodSpring Suites hotels in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana in 2014, according to an April letter from Holladay executives to Carol Stream plan commissioners.

The first two Illinois hotels opened in 2016 in Romeoville and Darien.

In Carol Stream, the hotel is expected to feature a gym, on-site laundry and rooms with kitchenettes - all amenities designed to attract construction workers and travelers doing business for weeks or longer in a town with 20 million square feet of industrial space.

Guests also could do their grocery shopping at an Aldi store just north of the site off Stark Drive.

In the letter to village planners, Holladay representatives said that the WoodSpring Suites will fill a void for travelers who look to Hanover Park and Itasca hotels for extended-stay rooms.