News
Chicago Jr. Gets a Hotel
December 13, 2010
| Aries Capital's Jeff Bucaro and Neil Freeman call Naperville a junior metropolis. But the suburb with a population of more than 145,000 still lacks a downtown hotel—that is until Marquette Cos breaks ground on a new 130-room project next summer. | |
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| Neil and Jeff are looking for a development partner for Marquette to help supply about $40M in equity and planning to secure a $60M construction loan. A hotel operator has not been decided. The proposed building will also have 30 condo units. A 600-car parking garage they're developing across the street, with an enclosed skyway connecting to the hotel, will alleviate parking problems in Naperville's downtown, and be enveloped by existing retail buildings, making it invisible from the street. | |
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| Naperville is home to several hotels outside downtown near I-88 but it's CBD, which includes restaurants like Hugo's Frog Bar and Ted's Montana Grill, and entertainment venues and the Riverwalk, attracts some local tourism and office traffic. Neil and Jeff expect the hotel will house a mix of business and leisure travelers, and provide a space for weddings or corporate events in its ballroom. They're also planning a rooftop restaurant and ground-floor retail along Water Street. Primarily a multifamily developer, Marquette brought on Aries because of its experience working with the hospitality industry in Louisiana last year. | |
