With future unknown, Pheasant Run warns remaining employees of potential layoffs

Forty-two remaining employees at Pheasant Run have been notified their jobs may be in jeopardy amid uncertainty over the fate of the St. Charles resort.

The property at 4051 E. Main St. is being marketed for sale, with an online auction scheduled to take place next month.

Hostmark Hospitality Group, which manages the resort, announced plans in November to lay off 149 employees - more than 75% of the Pheasant Run staff - while company leaders worked to "restructure operations."

With the future of the resort unknown in light of potential new ownership, Hostmark President Jerome Cataldo said, the rest of its employees have been informed they, too, could soon be out of jobs.

"It's so that employees are aware that if the situation evolved into that - such as a closure or something of that event - they had already been given notice that that's a possibility," he said. "It doesn't mean that will happen."

The resort is required by state law to provide 60 days notice of a closure or mass layoff. The first round of cuts is expected to start taking effect Sunday, according to an Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification report. Pheasant Run filed an update with the state Dec. 30 saying 42 additional layoffs could begin Feb. 29.

Everything from Pheasant Run's employment to its management to future reservations and operations is "dependent upon the outcome of the sales process," Cataldo said. "We assume that process will result in a new ownership, and that ownership will make a decision on how (to move forward)."

Originally planned for the end of January, Pheasant Run will go up for auction Feb. 10 to 12 with bids starting at $2 million. The 18.3-acre property is listed on the Ten-X Commercial real estate website as an "extraordinary lodging investment opportunity" with the potential for redevelopment and rebranding opportunities.

According to the auction website, the resort has 293 hotel rooms and suites, seven restaurants and 31,930 square feet of banquet and meeting space. It also operates a comedy club, theater, indoor-outdoor pool and an 18-hole golf course that it leases from the adjacent DuPage Airport.

Founded in 1963 and later expanded, Pheasant Run generates $500,000 to $600,000 in tax revenue for the city each year, City Administrator Mark Koenen said. St. Charles officials have expressed interest in partnering with resort leaders in future site plans, which they say could help revitalize the city's eastern gateway.

Though existing reservations will be honored, Pheasant Run is not booking events or hotel stays into the future, Cataldo said.

"As soon as we understand with clarity the process, that could change," he said.