Feb. 03–Demolition of a vacant Jewel-Osco on Lakehurst Road continued Wednesday to clear room for a new Hampton Inn hotel across from Waukegan's proposed location for a casino, a concept that Mayor Wayne Motley says he still feels could become reality.
"We still intend to have that be the casino," Motley said as he looked east from the Jewel site to the 32-acre parcel set aside in 2003 for a gambling venue.
"The last time I spoke to the governor, he said casinos are not dead, there are still three licenses, and I'm still looking forward to Waukegan getting one of those licenses," said Motley, acknowledging that no active discussion of gambling expansion has taken place while Springfield wrestles with its financial troubles.
Asked if he anticipated any developments on that front this spring, Motley said, "It depends on if they get a budget passed. … Right now, the state's in such disarray financially it may take another year. But we're still hopeful."
Development of Fountain Square of Waukegan has proceeded around the 32-acre site over the last decade, with restaurants that include Buffalo Wild Wings and Sweet Tomatoes and hotels that include a 96-room Holiday Inn Express and a 124-room Spring Hill Suites by Marriott.
Even if the casino never comes to fruition, 9th Ward Ald. Ann Taylor said hotels will be needed in the area for businesses in the corporate sector on Route 43, which includes the ongoing redevelopment of the 225-acre McGaw Business Park about a mile south, now known as Bridge Point North.
"Obviously, as McGaw Park gets going, they'll need more hotels (and) more restaurants for lunches and that type of thing, so I really see this whole area taking off," Taylor said. "I think as soon as you get more hotels in here, you'll get more restaurants and then more families, eventually. (I) think you'll see this become not only a hotel but also an entertainment area as well."
The Jewel-Osco building closed in November 2006 after more than a quarter-century in operation, its fate having been sealed by the opening that summer of a Wal-Mart Supercenter 200 yards away. Last month, crews from Earth Services out of downstate Benton began razing the structure, with co-owner Josh Appleton saying he expects the process of salvaging recyclable material to take about three to four weeks.
"Demolition is a lot more complicated than just knocking it down," said Appleton, estimating that 75 percent of the building will be recycled, including structural steel, concrete and bricks.
Construction of the Hampton Inn & Suites is expected to start in April with completion eyed for the first quarter of 2017. Owner Haresh Jathani said Wednesday that his development group, Waukegan Star Real Estate, initially looked at building a five-story, 121-room facility before scaling back to four stories with 116 rooms.
No matter what the design, Jathani said he is targeting the corporate world for his operation.
"I didn't know about a casino at all," he said.
"Basically, business hotels are a growing sector of the market, and both the Holiday Inn and Springhill Suites near there are doing pretty well," Jathani said0. "You have the families of (Great Lakes) recruits who need rooms on the weekends, and during the week it would be the corporate clientele."
According to Motley, talks have taken place recently with a pharmaceutical company with plans to build a $450 million complex at North Point that would employ 500 to 700 employees. He added that the new Hampton Inn would benefit from a development of that scale.
"This is not based on (the casino)," Motley said. "When we negotiated this deal, (Jathani) told us he has a genuine like for this area. He thinks it's a very good business area. It's between two major thoroughfares and he intends to be busy every night.
"And also, this developer has asked for no financial assistance from the city. He's building this project strictly on his own. No TIF (tax-increment financing) money, no enterprise-zone money, nothing. He's building it all on his own."
