'Rundown' Prospect Heights hotel to reopen as Holiday Inn Express & Suites
Prospect Heights Mayor Nick Helmer is upbeat about a Milwaukee Avenue hotel undergoing extensive renovation before reopening later this year with a new name.
Chicago-based CBRE Hotels, which is part of a commercial real estate services firm, recently announced it brokered the sale of the 108-room Country Inn & Suites from RK Hospitality to Palwaukee Hospitality LLC. The hotel is just south of Chicago Executive Airport at 600 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Palwaukee Hospitality will reopen the five-story hotel under the Holiday Inn Express & Suites brand. Helmer said it's hoped the refurbished hotel will debut in the fall.
"The great thing is, it was kind of a rundown hotel, motel," Helmer said. "The owner finally decided to go sell."
Helmer said the top-to-bottom remodeling began about a month ago. Upgrades will take place in all rooms, include improved fixtures and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, he said.
Country Inn & Suites was at a low price point and didn't generate much tax revenue for Prospect Heights, Helmer said. He expects Holiday Inn Express & Suites to add more to the village's coffers because it'll have higher nightly rates.
"Holiday Inn has a great reputation and they will do very well," he said.
Prospect Heights derives revenue from a 5% hotel tax in a tourism district from Milwaukee Avenue and River Road north to Chicago Executive.
In August 2016, a former Fairbridge Inn underwent a $5.2 million renovation and reopened as Ramada Plaza Chicago North Shore on Milwaukee Avenue, just north of Palatine Road in Prospect Heights. It features 139 guest rooms, 5,000 square feet of meeting space and a Tap House Grill that replaced Village Inn Pizzeria.