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The new downtown Woodstock hotel is going to be open a little later than originally projected.
Construction on the hotel has to be wrapped up by November 2026, according to a revised agreement the city council approved with developer KEBB CS-WK, LLC. The original timeline to complete construction of the 60-room Cobblestone hotel was August 2026.
City council member Bob Seegers said he would support bumping back the deadline this time but wouldn’t support another unless delay there was a financial commitment from the developer.
Seegers said he had a little “paranoia” after what took place with the former Die Cast property. In that case, the city approved an agreement with Chicago Hubs Realty to develop that site, but late last year the developer backed out of it.
Seegers asked if the city had thought about seeking nonrefundable money from the developers, saying city staff had put in a lot of time and energy into this project.
“This eerily feels like the Die Cast situation. And you know we’re human, we’re going to make mistakes, but we should learn from those mistakes,” Seegers said, adding he hoped there was something the city learned from Die Cast to compensate staff for their efforts.
Seegers later said that if the city had even one part to do with the delay, “that’s on us. I accept that.”
Council member Gordie Tebo said he agreed with Seegers but added there were red flags on the Die Cast project, unlike this one. Tebo said the delay in the hotel construction was partially caused by the city, but he developer also needed more time. He said agreements with developers should have something in them to protect the city in case the developer pulls out. But he said that’s something that needs to be in the initial agreements with developers, not added later.
Jessica Erickson, the city’s economic development director, said a couple things slowed down the process, including the city getting an updated hotel study, which took 30 to 45 days longer than what the consultant had said it would. The developer ran into delays with architectural and design firms as well.
Staff had “full faith and confidence” the developers were going to move forward, and the developers sent in preliminary design submittals that day, Erickson said.
Erickson added there’s been discussions about “financial skin in the game” for future projects, but didn’t know if adding that to an existing agreement was possible or something she’d recommend, given the parties signed this redevelopment agreement in good faith without it.
The City Council, where only four people were present, just enough for a quorum, unanimously approved pushing back the timelines. Council members Darrin Flynn, Melissa McMahon, Seegers and Tebo voted yes, while Mayor Mike Turner, council member Tom Nierman and council member Natalie Ziemba were absent.
Representatives for the developer, who phoned into the meeting, said they were excited to move forward and were fully confident they would meet deadlines. They added it was their first time working with Woodstock and didn’t want to blow any deadlines.
The representatives added the design process for the hotels can cost $150,000 to $250,000, including architectural, engineering and civil survey work.
The city council gave the thumbs-up to the hotel project last summer. Woodstock also acquired two neighboring parcels last year and opted to start eminent domain proceedings earlier this month for a vacant property nearby.
Seegers and Nierman are among the candidates seeking three open seats on the council in the April 1 election. The challengers are Joseph “John” Puzzo, Theodore “Theo” Dice, Joshua S. Fourdyce and Gregory A. Hanson, along with former McHenry County Board member Lou Ness, who is running as a write-in candidate.