The Skokie Village Board has approved a $50 million hotel and conference center as part of their downtown revitalization plan. The project is slated to be built this spring. The Skokie Village Board voted to enter into a development agreement with Chicago-based E&M Strategic Developments.
An article in the Chicago Tribune states that the group plans to build a 141-room Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel and Conference Center on the former Sanford Brown College. It is located at 4930 Oakton Street.
Trustee Randall Roberts stated that this project has been one of the most scrutinized and most publicly commented upon developments that he has ever experienced while on the board.
The hotel is only one component of a $400 million downtown redevelopment plan. The village hopes the new construction will revitalize the area that has been going downhill for quite a while. Village officials are also using TIF funds to build a $9.5 million parking garage to further encourage that growth.
"For decades, residents throughout Skokie have been adamant and very vocal and supporting of downtown development. We need downtown Skokie to be vibrant. We need it to be more active, not just 9 to 5 Monday through Friday but also on evenings and weekends."
Economic development manager | Len Becker
The village has tried many times to bring life into its downtown core and in the past, two officials have worked with developers on the following projects:
- A 153 unit luxury apartment building with restaurant and retail space to 8000 North Lincoln Avenue
- A residential and retail building with eight condos and commercial space to 5010 Warren Street
- A 42 unit apartment building with commercial space at 8025 Skokie Boulevard
- 16 townhomes to 8102 Floral Avenue
- Four townhomes with commercial space to 8163 Lincoln Avenue
Current development plans also include:
- A provision by which the village will buy land in the 4900 block of Oakton Street where Annie's Pancake House now sits from E&M Strategic Developments.
- This space will be used for residential development and also to construct the multi-story parking garage at Niles Avenue and Oakton Terrace which is currently the site of a park.
- The Hilton hotel will replace the Sanford Brown College office building which has been vacant since 2014.
The new development is expected to draw 47,000 guests annually who are projected to spend about $12.5 million in downtown Skokie. Becker expects that visitors at the nearby Illinois Science + Technology Park will stay at the hotel and use downtown businesses.
Some residents have raised concerns about the development. They think the hotel proposal doesn't meet the village's own environmental sustainability plan and believe it would have a negative impact on the availability of affordable housing in Skokie because property values and rents would go up dramatically.
The residents would like to see the plans reevaluated because they were drawn up before the pandemic and a great deal has changed.
Becker has stated that Skokie has held public forums on its downtown development plans and invited citizen comment at meetings and continues to post information on the village website.
He said the hotel and conference center meets the Illinois energy conversation code and will have the latest and greatest construction energy efficient systems throughout.
Ground breaking is likely to start by the end of March and that the hotel and conference center are the company's largest project to date.