Huntley Village Board approves construction of Hampton Inn hotel

In last Thursday’s meeting of the Huntley Village Board, trustees voted to approve the construction of a four-story, 100-room Hampton Inn hotel, a project that is set to break ground later this summer.

Trustee Ronda Goldman said she has supported the plan to build Huntley’s first major hotel since it first was proposed.

"When you have a hotel, people have to have places to eat and they want to have something unusual maybe to visit," Goldman said. "So who knows what it will draw but we're all hoping that it will draw businesses because we still have areas to develop up and down [Route 47]."

Goldman said the project proposal had been reviewed by the board as well as advisory commissions so the final stamp of approval was given on Thursday without any opposition.

The hotel is projected to be finished and ready for businesses in December of 2021, she said.

The Hampton Inn will be built in Lot 2 of Huntley Crossings corporate park just east of Route 47 and south of Powers Road and would occupy a total of 3.7 acres, according to a report by the village’s development services staff.

The hotel would include 100 rooms, an indoor pool, breakfast area and meeting room, costing about $11.5 million, said the village's Economic Development, Marketing & Recruitment Specialist Melissa Stocker.

The project developer and soon-to-be owner, Henry Patel, has brought a few beneficial developments to Huntley, which Goldman said only strengthened her gut feeling that the proposal would be good for the community.

"We have wanted a hotel for a very long time," she said. "... As soon as we got [Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital], we started thinking about really pursuing it actively...and then here comes [Patel] who is very generous with his building in Huntley. He loves Huntley."

Goldman said she suggested that a larger banquet hall be added to the hotel plan since the village of Huntley does not have many spaces that can accommodate large events.

Goldman said that Patel responded by saying that constructing a larger space for gatherings was simply not in the cards at the moment, but that he would look into it in the future.

"He said he owns more land in the area so maybe down the road," Goldman said.

The meeting room planned for the hotel will be able to accommodate about 34 people, she said.

Huntley’s Board of Trustees will finalize its financial agreement with Patel at their next meeting on Aug. 13, but, other than that, the project is “a done deal,” Goldman said.