Construction for a Holiday Inn Express Hotel is underway at 1140 Lake St. after the project was originally approved in 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the construction plans, causing the project to be delayed. In January 2022, Oak Park’s village board approved it again, 6-0, with one trustee absent.
The project originally intended to have 97 hotel rooms and the addition of three more floors to an existing five-story building. In 2022, that was scaled down to 68 rooms and one additional floor, according to previous Wednesday Journal reporting. The hotel will still have 68 rooms.
Those changes were intended to assuage traffic concerns. But Wednesday Journal reported in 2022 that members of the neighboring condo association were concerned about illegal parking and traffic blockages in this area of Lake Street, worried it might get worse with the new hotel.
The Holiday Inn will have an entrance on Lake Street and from the village’s Holley Court Garage. Village officials expect the majority of hotel guests to access to hotel through the Holley Court pedway on the second floor of the garage, where guests can park.
The pedway goes directly into the hotel lobby, officials pointed out, on the building’s second floor. Village officials also had a curb cut-out incorporated into Lake Street improvements to serve as a quick and safe drop-off point for hotel guests.
In 2023, the village issued an OK to begin internal demolition.
The site of the new hotel, historically known as the Oak Leaves Building, was toured recently by Oak Park development services staff. At 1138 Lake St., on the first floor of the building, Nando’s Peri-Peri restaurant is open.
Hotel guest rooms will be on the second through fifth floors. Rooms will also be in the building’s annex.
The floors expected to have guest rooms are under construction, being “framed out and drywalled,” according to village officials. Electric wiring, sprinklers and fire alarms are also being installed.
“The Village appreciates the investment of owner Azim Hemani as he works to give new life to this building,” village officials wrote.
Oak Park development services staff is meeting with the property owner next month to discuss the timeline and completion date, according to village officials.
