Schaumburg approves parking lot improvements enabling first phase of entertainment district
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday took action that will literally pave the way for the village's forthcoming entertainment district surrounding the Renaissance Hotel and its adjoining convention center.
The trustees unanimously approved two contracts totaling $381,062 to repave the Woodfield Green Executive Centre parking lot and relocate the power supply of its light poles to make it a temporary overflow parking lot before the entertainment district's first construction begins on the west side of the hotel along Meacham Road.
The $340,843 paving project will maintain about 300 parking spaces on the north side of Thoreau Drive, while the $40,219 electrical work will move the light poles' power supply from within the soon-to-be-demolished office buildings.
The parking lot improvements are expected to be completed before the Oct. 13-15 Mecum Auto Auction at the convention center.
The two single-story office buildings at 1920 and 1930 Thoreau Drive are slated to be demolished after the Mecum event, but that won't add to the capacity of their parking lot, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said.
The village bought the office center for $6.58 million in 2017 with the specific purpose of incorporating its property into an entertainment district. It then paid some tenants with especially long-term leases to depart early.
The last to go was Bright Horizons Early Childhood & Education Center, which was paid $3.5 million generated by the area's tax-increment financing district to move to Roosevelt University's nearby Schaumburg campus rather than pursue potential lease extensions that could have gone on until 2045.
Orlando-based Andretti Indoor Karting & Games is planned to anchor the entertainment district's first phase, which would also include another entertainment venue, a restaurant and a 900-space parking deck west of the Renaissance.
The Woodfield Green property is expected to eventually graduate from a temporary parking lot to a future phase of an ultimately 28-acre entertainment district on the east side of Meacham Road.