Arlington Heights village board members and staff are excited but will not yet show any commitment to proposed construction for the vacant Sheraton Chicago Northwest.

Since the closing of Sheraton Hotel in December 2009, it is estimated that Arlington Heights has lost $400,000 in revenue. Now the new owners of the Sheraton have a vision for the 20 acre property they won’t be demolishing.

According to the Daily Herald, developers appeared before the board to pitch their construction plan under a process called early review where they could get an idea of trustees’ responses without any commitment from the board.

New owners of the site plan to convert the 250 apartments in the old hotel to into luxury rental apartments with an extended-stay hotel, retail stores and restaurant, with the possibility to build additional apartments and hotel rooms in the future.

The Coco Key water park, which is an amenity left from the Sheraton, still has no future plans, but owners hope someone steps forward to operate the park.

Overall, the response from trustees and staff was generally supportive, with some noting that new construction at this site will improve the “current eyesore” of the vacant hotel.

However, there were some concerns such as parking and entrances, density, how the project is phased, stormwater retention and whether or not a new banquet hall would be profitable.

As stated by Mark Matthews of the Argent Group, representing the developers, the first phase of Arlington Downs is at least 18 months away.