It was a packed house throughout Thursday evening at Naper Settlement's Pre-Emption House as hundreds of residents gathered to get a look at newly revised plans for the proposed Water Street development.
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The proposed 2.4-acre multi-use development would sit south of the Riverwalk between Main and Webster streets and hold a hotel, retail shops, restaurant, office space as well as a parking deck.
Marquette Companies, the developer of the project, was on hand to greet the large crowd as well as answer questions about the development Thursday night.
"We had a rush at four o'clock and it hasn't let up," said Jeff Prosapio, Marquette Companies director of project management. "We're getting a lot of people through which is great and we're asking them to fill out comment cards."
Prosapio added that Marquette Companies has about a month to review all of the feedback before City Council discusses the project again.
"We have several weeks to work with staff, to digest all of these comments, making our final revisions and then we'll present to the council on [Feb.] 19."
Many changes have been made to the project over the last few months, including one full story of the planned six-story Holiday Inn Express being removed and residential apartments eliminated from the development plans.
Last night, newly revised plans showed some additional changes, including a reduction of parking spaces from 580 to 524. The spaces would be housed inside a parking deck, which has been reduced to a height of 61 feet. A total of 404 of those parking spaces would be unreserved and available to the public.
| Building | Height | Parapet | Details |
| Loggia Building | 5 stories, 61 feet | 64 feet | Includes 65 riverfront hotel rooms/suites, retail, commercial space and rooftop restaurant. Connects to main Hotel Building via pedestrian bridge across Water Street. |
| Theater Building | 4 stories, 48 feet | 52 feet | First floor is comprised of retail, commercial and restaurant space with offices above. |
| Hotel Building | 5 stories, 61 feet | 65 feet | Features 101 hotel rooms and first-floor commercial, retail, restaurant and amenities. Second floor holds meeting and guest rooms. |
| Parking Garage | 61 feet | 64 feet | 524 parking spaces, 404 unreserved |
Residents as well as some City Council members who have been critical of the plan previously cited concerns regarding the height of the proposed Holiday Inn Express hotel, which would be named Naperville Riverwalk Hotel.
The hotel remains at five stories, but the height has been reduced to 61 feet, with a 69-foot architectural element. The Loggia Building, located north of the hotel, connected by an elevated pedestrian bridge, is also the same height.
The number of hotel rooms have been reduced from 177 to 166. The main Naperville Riverwalk Hotel building would house 101 rooms with another 65 riverfront rooms in the Loggia Building.
Along with retail and commercial space, the Loggia Building would also hold a rooftop restaurant overlooking the DuPage River.
"The rooftop restaurant that we had on the hotel building on the sixth floor is now built into the fifth floor," Prosapio said. "We didn't go over five stories and all of our heights are still lower; lower actually than the 2007 plan that was approved for the five-story condo [building]."
Some residents reject the plan altogether, while others have said they would be more comfortable with reducing the height of the development to three stories or less.
In a Patch Poll, 47 percent of readers said they support the project, 6 percent said they would support it if the height of the hotel was reduced and 41 percent said they do not support the project because it is too big for the downtown area.
One resident who was looking over the artist renderings displayed inside the Pre-Emption House Thursday was still critical about the height of the buildings. Another said he supports the development as well as the effort of the developer to gather community feedback.
"I thought the original project was great, so I think they should be complimented for listening to the concerns that some of the folks of the community had and making the adjustments," said unincorporated Naperville resident Mike Scarr. "I give them a lot of credit for that."
The project will be brought back to the Naperville City Council agenda for the Feb. 19 meeting.
Earlier:
With Open House Scheduled, City Holds Off on Water Street Vote
Changes Made to 'Game-Changing' Naperville Water Street Project
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